


The Trio

by Watermelonsmellinfellon



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: 2020, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Awkward Conversations, Bisexual Harry Potter, Drama, F/M, Harry and Bella were born in 2002, Humor, I took liberties with canon facts that we got no backstory on, Innuendo, LGBTQ Themes, M/M, Master of Death Harry Potter, Mild Language, Modern Era, Multi, Not Canon Compliant - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Polyamory, Polyamory Negotiations, Threesome - F/M/M, Trauma, Twilight Book Compliant
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-04
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-02-27 16:08:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 49,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22119904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Watermelonsmellinfellon/pseuds/Watermelonsmellinfellon
Summary: Harry hadn't expected Bella Swan when he moved into the house Sirius left for Harry in his Will. He hadn't expected Edward Cullen either. And it was safe to say that Bella didn't expect Harry and Edward, and that Edward didn't expect Bella and Harry. Who knew that a wizard, a muggle, and a vampire could forge such a great relationship?
Relationships: Edward Cullen/Bella Swan, Edward Cullen/Harry Potter, Harry Potter/Bella Swan, Harry Potter/Bella Swan/Edward Cullen
Comments: 319
Kudos: 1460
Collections: Creatures or ABO love and dynamics, Harry potter crossover





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was born out of a desire to see a Bella who is a bit stronger in character and an Edward who is a little less creepy/controlling. Where Harry gets away from the magical world stress and gets to be a teenager as he should. And then it somehow became a legit threesome. And I've only written one poly fic before and decided why not do another?
> 
> I like Twilight and I like crossovers with it. I do NOT like the misogynistic approach so many writers take to shit on Bella Swan. Imagine butchering a character so much just to justify your petty hatred and jealousy over what she gets in the end. Imagine having to turn Bella into a mix of Rosalie and Jane just to get the greedy, vain bitch so many people write. Also, way to not hold Edward accountable despite the fact that he is canonically 50% of the problems in that relationship!
> 
> At the time of posting this chapter, there are 16 Chapters already written.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The manip is mine.

**A/N: Hello, people!**

**I don't own Harry Potter or Twilight.**

**I have no beta.**

**ENJOY!**

**CHECK ME OUT ON TUMBLR.[HELLY-WATERMELONSMELLINFELLON](http://helly-watermelonsmellinfellon.tumblr.com/).**

* * *

**~.O.~**

* * *

Moving to Forks had been a willing decision. She didn't necessarily want to, but Renee and Phil were still in that honeymoon phase and Bella didn't want to get in the way of that. Having to stay home while her new husband traveled the country had left Bella's mom in distress no matter how hard she tried to hide it.

So Bella decided that she would stay with her father Charlie until she graduated from high school. No plans beyond that had been ironed out yet since she wasn't sure of just what she wanted to do with her life. Forks was wet and dreary compared to the scorching heat of Phoenix, but it was tolerable.

Charlie was a good man. A bit awkward and not the best at expressing his concerns and feelings verbally, but he more than made up for it in actions. He was one of those people. Actions speaking for him far better than he could even hope to verbalize.

Even though they hadn't seen one another for so long, he'd gotten her a truck so she could drive around, set up her room in purples that he remembered she liked, and installed a far better bathroom cabinet to better store their things separately.

It was the small things that didn't seem important on the surface, but really mattered in the long run. He'd known she hated the old cabinet and the door on it. She had a feeling more things had been fixed around the house just to make things easier on her.

She blinked when Charlie pulled her aside after springing the whole truck on her that evening. "Listen, Bells, I wanted to ask a favor of you."

Since she knew that Charlie typically didn't like burdening people, she knew he wouldn't have come to her unless she was his last resort. It was something he'd passed on to her somehow, despite how that couldn't possibly be a genetic trait.

"What's wrong?"

He looked out the window of the kitchen, toward the house across the street. "That house was finally bought out r a few years ago. A young man from Britain, named Hadrian Potter just moved in, claiming his godfather had gotten it for him as a gift. He's seventeen and new to the US so he doesn't have a license to drive nor is he used to the way we drive here compared to there. He'll be starting at the high school like you and ended up testing into your year."

"And… you want me to be his ride?" she guessed. It wouldn't be a problem since they would both be going the same way to and back. Would save a lot of finite resources in the process.

"I can give you extra money for gas if you want."

"No! No, it's fine. There's no reason he should have to walk if we're both going in the same direction to and from," she assured him. "Should I… go and tell him?"

Charlie smiled, his eyes doing that little crinkle they did when he was happy. She remembered seeing it all the time when she was little. It was a small comfort.

"Thanks, Bells."

* * *

Harry blinked when his wards alerted him to the fact that he had a visitor. It wasn't Chief Swan either. The man's presence had already been registered just in case.

Seconds later, the doorbell rang and he put his bag down. Preparing for his first day of muggle school in years required a lot of concentration and preparation. He didn't really know what to do or bring and had been packing and unpacking obsessively for the past hour. There was just so much new stuff for him to get used to! Muggles advanced so quickly. He remembered when mobile phones were the size of bricks and could knock a man out. Now they looked like they would snap from a stiff breeze and operated through the lightest of touches.

There was a young brunette his height at the door. Her face was heart-shaped and she had a widow's peak. She looked incredibly awkward standing there, wringing her hands uncertainty. "Um… hi. I'm Bella Swan and I just moved in with my dad Charlie across the street."

"Ah, yes! Mr. Swan said you'd be moving in soon. He's been very excited about it."

Bella nodded, a dark flush spreading across her face. "Dad got me a truck and I wanted to know if you'd like to come to school with me? Until you can get your own car. If you want to of course."

Harry beamed. He found her to be amusing. It had been a while since someone had made him smile in such a way. Not after everything that had happened. "Thanks! I can pay you too!"

"Oh! N-no! That's fine, really. You don't have to pay me."

"But I-"

"I would very much prefer that you didn't, please?" she insisted.

Maybe he could sneak some money in her bag when she wasn't paying attention to him. "Are you sure?"

She nodded sharply.

"Thanks. I'm Harry, by the way. Would you… like to come in?"

Bella glanced back at her own home, before shrugging and stepping past him and into the hallway. Harry's house was a decent two-bedroom, one and a half bathroom. The outside was an off white with brown trimming, and the inside was all dark reds and browns. Sirius had bought it for him as a 'holiday home' or something. It had been in his Will once Harry had finally gotten around to seeing the bloody thing.

"I've been trying to pack but I don't really know what to bring," he told her as he lead her into the lounge. "I haven't had a first day at a new school in a very long time and this time no one knows who I am so I'm especially nervous and confused."

She frowned. "Did you go to the same middle school as the kids you went to elementary with?"

Harry shook his head with a frown of his own. "No, I started secondary when I was eleven and found out that my parents had set me up at their alma mater before they were murdered. And their murder and my subsequent survival of their murderer because of them, made our names pretty famous, so everyone knew who I was before I even got there. They'd already formed their own opinions and expectations of me even."

It was absolutely ridiculous. Magical people made no sense half of the time!

Bella looked even more awkward than before. Like she didn't know if she should apologize or not. He waved off her mounting concern. "It's fine," he assured her. "I've pretty much gotten over that part of it by now. Though I'm sure you can now understand just why I'm out of my depth with this."

She nodded and took a seat on the sofa he gestured to. The upholstery was red while the wood was brown. The house had come furnished in a very Gryffindor kind of way.

"Would you like some tea?"

"Um… hot or iced?"

Harry blinked as he thought about it. "I've never had iced tea actually. Is it actually better than having tea hot?" he'd heard the usual digs at Americans for 'ruining tea' but he was honestly curious. Harry never got to try many things growing up and he wanted to remedy that issue as soon as he could.

The other teen shrugged, wringing her hands still. "Depends, I guess. Iced tea is great in the summer, or especially in places like California, Texas, Arizona, Florida, Nevada, and New Mexico. Places like California, Texas, and Arizona have an abundance of buzzards and vultures and being too hot or dehydrated is dangerous because they pick up on it and will gather around you, waiting for you to drop.

"Hot tea is best for colder climates so I've rarely had reason to drink it much because I've typically been in warm places most of my life with that occasional vacation up north where hot tea and hot chocolate are served everywhere."

"Should I try iced tea up here since the temperature seems to be on the cooler side?"

She shrugged. "You can do whatever you want in your own house. I'd recommend trying various types of teas cold, but lemon, green, and oolong seem to have the best flavor when paired with coldness."

Harry smiled. "I'll take that into consideration. How about I get you some water for now until I figure this whole thing out? I still need to go shopping too."

"I could take you."

"If you take me anywhere but school, I'm paying you," he said in a no-nonsense tone.

He was certain he hadn't imagined her small huff.

The chances of him liking Forks had just gone up considerably.

* * *

Bella ended up taking Harry to the store, which was good because she had to go shopping too. Charlie's skills in the kitchen weren't that great. As in practically nonexistent. The man needed help and he did work every day and cooking on top of that would be stressful.

It was fascinating to learn that Harry could cook very well apparently and knew even more than she did. When she asked, he mumbled something about his aunt and uncle and chores and then frowned heavily, letting her know it wasn't a pleasant memory.

She let it drop since they'd reached the store at that point and had to familiarize themselves with everything. Some things had changed since she was younger. More technology was involved now.

It wasn't a very big store though. "A trip to Port Angeles might be better," she suggested. It was the nearest 'city' and was guaranteed to have a Walmart at the very least. They'd have to make a trip at least once a month, though. Either there or to Olympia though it was much farther away.

Harry wasn't much like Bella in terms of planning. He just grabbed things he knew would make a good meal of any combination. Bella planned ahead for the upcoming week of dinners methodically. It just made her feel better to do something she'd gotten used to over the years with Renee. Her mother wasn't the best at being maternal, which meant Bella often picked up the slack in many ways.

She didn't really mind since Renee had things she was good at that Bella couldn't hope to compete with. She could even do things her new husband Phil couldn't, so it wasn't as if having a man in the house changed anything or made life any better.

The cart was quickly filled with meats and veggies. Internally, Bella considered the price it would cost to make her own pasta homemade, versus the amount that would be spent on purchasing pre-cooked pasta. This was for things like lasagna which she very much was willing to make totally from scratch, but did Charlie have the tools necessary for her to do it that way? She'd have to check later.

"I'm going to go pay," Harry told her, gesturing to his cart. "The trolley is getting too full now and I think I've got enough for two weeks of meals."

His cart was just a mishmash of stuff, ranging from three different types of chocolate cereal and four gallons of chocolate milk, to bags upon bags of fresh fruits and vegetables that she could feel her wallet shying away from. Produce was so damn expensive and it wasn't fair. Bella could get behind a diet of asparagus and watermelon if only both weren't so expensive all the time!

"I'll join you in a minute," she told him. "Charlie fishes a lot so we have too much trout in the freezer and I'm trying to think of the various ways it can be used without it getting old." It was still winter and they were up north, so she didn't want to spend money on other meats when they had so much of one kind on hand already. Meat wasn't cheap in the winter.

"Good luck."

She liked Harry. He was… safe among all this new stuff. Bella felt better prepared for her first day at Forks High School tomorrow as a result.

Harry just had this calmness about him that made her feel less harried ironically.

* * *

Edward Cullen had spent the better part of nineteen hours playing the piano. He'd merely sat down on the bench and began playing, and had felt no need to stop ever since.

His emotions cycled through the more darker, less pleasant side of the emotional spectrum. Thankfully, Alice and Jasper hadn't been due back from their hunting trip when he'd began, because poor Jasper would have been exposed to Edward's roiling emotions and it wasn't fair to him.

Besides, when they finally returned and Jasper got full force of Edward's current range of emotions, he put all of his power into forcing a calm on Edward, making the music morph into something less depressing as a result.

And it was Esme's thoughts that made him feel a bit sad about his venting through music. She knew he was listless and it hurt her by extension because she was so caring as a person. Carlisle even more so.

One could only fake contentedness for so long before it became too much though.

Alice sank into one of the many sofa cushions in the room, her thoughts pleasant and full of hope. _Things are going to get so much better! Just you wait!_

* * *

**~.O.~**

* * *

**A/N: The first is done!**

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	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> That first day of school is pretty hectic for everyone in the trio.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TAGS: Humor, Homophobia, Body-Shaming, and Drama.
> 
> -Yes, I made the cover of the fic. It was a simple edit of the Twilight cover  
> where I added another hand and used the HP font for the title.

**A/N: Hello, people!**

**I don't own Harry Potter or Twilight.**

**I have no beta.**

**ENJOY!**

**CHECK ME OUT ON TUMBLR.[HELLY-WATERMELONSMELLINFELLON](http://helly-watermelonsmellinfellon.tumblr.com/).**

* * *

**~.O.~**

* * *

She had gone over to Harry's house the moment Charlie left for work, and found him twisting back and forth in front of a long mirror in his living room. His hair, which she hadn't really taken not of before, was curly and messy atop his head, and his boxy glasses, which looked dorky on their own, actually looked good on him somehow. They also made his eyes look a bit bigger than they were, enhancing the green.

"Alright, I'm not the most fashion conscious person in the world. Never have been and never will be, so I need help."

Bella was shaking her head before Harry could even finish speaking. "I'm really not the person to come to about fashion. Have you _seen_ what I'm wearing?" She gestured to her own body for reference. "The comments I've gotten on my wardrobe choices aren't the most kind, even from people like my mom who feel it's their duty to let me down gently."

That morning she'd thrown on a pair of skinny jeans and a light blue, long-sleeved shirt. Over it she'd tossed on a simple, short-sleeved, green shirt. It was a go-to for her in colder climates to layer on the shirts. Her shoes were a pair of black and white Chucks. Also, a brush had been hastily pulled through her brown hair which she then did nothing with. She wasn't exactly the person known for style. Sometimes she got called a failed lumberjack.

Not that anyone would trust Bella with an ax, of course. It was safer for everyone that things like that remained far away.

Harry looked her over with a critical eye that didn't make her feel weird oddly. It wasn't an ogle like she'd seen many men do when invited to look at a woman. It was just him honestly evaluating her choice of style and nothing more. "You look comfortable," he said frankly, "which should always be your choice. I just need to know if this seems like overkill for Washington weather."

He pulled open his coat to reveal what he'd thrown together. Dark jeans, smooth black boots, a skin-tight, black t-shirt, and over it was a charcoal blazer that he'd left unbuttoned. Over that he had a black, double breasted pea coat that gave him a sort of model look she often only saw in magazines or on fashion websites when she felt like browsing.

"I mean, you look fine for the weather, but aren't you going to be hot with all those layers?" That was three layers of not very thin clothing and Renee told her that men would sweat a lot more. "You kind of look like someone who'd be a poster boy for Burberry."

The flush that came over Harry's face made her smirk. "Is it Burberry?"

"Yeah," he admitted, buttoning his coat back up. "I look rich but not _too_ rich, right? Like I can support myself just fine but won't be rubbing it in your face every day? I hate people who do that."

She shrugged. "People will probably still talk anyway, so beware of that."

He sighed. "I am in fact very wealthy from money that I inherited from my parents once I turned seventeen, I just don't think it's that important. After having a best mate who was incredibly self-conscious over his family's poverty, I got used to staying in my cousin's hand-me-downs and not buying new clothes just so he wouldn't feel so threatened all the time."

There was so much to unpack from that and she wondered if she should say something. Typically this would be where normal people offered comfort, right?

Thankfully, he carried on with his business, meaning she wasn't expected to say a thing that she wouldn't even know to say anyway. His bag was more of a leather satchel unlike her heavy-duty, waterproof backpack. "I got used to using these," he explained when he saw where she was looking. "They're really strong and can hold a lot of weight."

Harry stopped in his kitchen quickly to grab an apple. "I'm too nervous for a big breakfast."

She could relate! Bella hadn't even eaten anything, too caught up in her anxiety on how the day would go. She'd been the new kid enough to have a basic idea of what would happen, but that didn't mean she wanted it or welcomed it. People would be staring, which meant attention. And from what Harry had said yesterday about Charlie being excited, it meant he'd talked about it. Which meant people would probably be expecting her. Meaning she'd have expectations to dash all day.

It was going to be her personal hell, she just knew it.

But there were two new kids at the moment, so she felt less alone in it all, since Harry had that calm thing about him that made her feel less like a spazz.

"I'm ready!"

* * *

Having to attend muggle school again wasn't something Harry had been looking forward to, but apparently seventeen year olds being out of school already wasn't normal in the States? It was bad enough that he was emancipated and an orphan. Just to get to Forks and get things set up, random adults he didn't even know, had accused him of truancy more times than he could count. Could they not mind their own business?

Cramming a bunch of knowledge he hadn't been aware of into his brain at the last moment had left him ill for days. Just so he could be with people his own age at the very least. And with how quickly things had progressed since he'd entered Hogwarts, he was shocked. There was so much he had to familiarise himself with now. Social media, and improved technology like computers and laptops, and mobile phones!

Thankfully Bella was there. He could tell that she would become a good friend, especially since they were equally awkward and unsure of what to do with themselves in public spaces filled with too many people. Harry hated crowds and attention. Being new was going to subject him to a lot of it and he hated that fact. But at least no one knew anything about him or about how _much_ money he had. He wasn't the Boy-Who-Lived or the Man-Who-Conquered here. He was just Harry. All he'd ever wanted to be.

Forks High School was just a smattering of buildings that looked far too much like houses, off the side of the 101 going north. Enough for Bella to almost drive past the place entirely. She had sworn under her breath and then went pink when she realised he had heard her.

It was a very small place. He wondered if that was a small town thing, or an American thing.

"Not like your old school, huh?" she asked as she pulled in front of the building labeled FRONT OFFICE and the roaring of the great truck Chief Swan had gotten her, died off.

He snorted. "Yeah, that was a castle in the highlands of Scotland. It's been standing for a thousand years."

"Damn. Sounds pretty cool."

"It is."

They went in to get their schedules, because that was how it was done in the US apparently. Teachers didn't come up to you with you class schedule, you had to get it yourself? Or maybe it was just a transfer student thing?

Harry felt relieved when he learned that they had half of their classes together. And this school provided a map! Hogwarts could take lessons! Since the building only changed once at the beginning of every decade, making a map wouldn't be that difficult! He never got why the suggestion made people all confused.

English was their first class of the day. After Bella relocated the truck to the common side of the car park so she couldn't get in trouble for parking without permission, they met back up at Building 3 and went inside.

Both ended up seated beside one another in the back after getting their own copies of the syllabus. And it was just… hell, to put it lightly. Harry leaned closer to say, "I hate nearly every book on this list. I've read all of them and I hate all of them equally." He had read them under Hermione's direction and no, they just did not appeal at all.

He couldn't believe that _this_ was what English class was like in the States.

Bella shrugged. "I've also read all of 'em and done reports on 'em too. It's a bit dull having to redo them now. Forks doesn't have AP classes though so I'm not really shocked I have to do all of this again."

Class droned on. Mr. Mason bore a striking resemblance to Binns in his teaching style. Harry would not like his class, especially if most of the time was dedicated to ' _classic literature_ '.

Bella had Government next, while Harry had Biology II, so they ended up being led in different directions by different helpful locals. Bella got an Asian boy named Eric Yorkie, and Harry got a bubbly brunette named Jessica Stanley She didn't shut up the entire time they walked and wanted to know everything about everything involving Britain.

After Biology, in which Harry realised that he didn't know as much as he should and that he was going to have to study more for that class, he and Bella met back up for Trigonometry with Mr. Varner, who was a dick. His subject was shite, as Harry had always hated maths of any sort, and he made them introduce themselves, which no one else had done!

After that, they made it to Spanish where he felt a lot more comfortable. European magic was heavily based in Latin, and Spanish was a derivative of Latin. Harry had begun learning Latin at the behest of, once again, Hermione, and could now see how useful it was to him in other ways. Spanish was probably the second most important language in the States because of their southern neighbors. So this was the one thing he had a bit of a head start in.

No, he did not speak Spanish in the least, but reading it was easy and if someone spoke it at him, he understood them just fine! His pronunciation didn't need too much work and he had to memorise new spellings, but considering how bad it could have been if it was German or something similar in sound, he'd say it was a good class period for him and probably his best thus far.

After that was lunch, where Jessica Stanley from before, led he and Bella to the cafeteria building, babbling the whole way there about classes, and food, and what they'd done in their former schools.

The lunch line was crowded and there was even a snack bar. Forks currently had about five thousand people in permanent residence, so he was shocked that such a thing was even available in their school. The prices were a bit high though, which made sense in a way. Small town still trying to make ends meet.

He got a fizzy drink and a banana while Bella simply got a lemonade, and followed Jessica to her table soon after.

"So Hadrian, where exactly are you from?" a girl named Angela Weber asked shyly, from behind large, wire-framed glasses. She was picking at a piece of bread, but hadn't eaten any of it.

"Surrey, England. It's not far outside London. You can call me Harry, by the way."

* * *

Vampires going to school with humans. It was more likely than one would think!

Alice dropped into her seat at their chosen lunch table, no lunch tray in sight for once. "Today's the day the new kids arrived! And it's been great already! You guys need to pay attention when they come in! Just trust me!"

Edward shook his head. The thoughts of his siblings weren't very favorable when it came to this idea, but typically when Alice insisted they do something, it was just best to follow along. Besides, they'd most likely end up doing it anyway if they tried to fight it. Alice always got what she wanted.

"So Hadrian, where exactly are you from?" Edward heard Angela Weber ask quietly. Mentally, she was running through the various English accents she knew of. _London? I think it's a London one? But there are so many London ones that you can't really choose, can you? Maybe not London? What is the fancy one called? Queen's English?_

"Surrey, England. It's not far outside London," the boy answered her calmly and with an easy smile Edward could see perfectly in Angela's mind. He had a very attractive voice for a human. "You can call me Harry." He was small, though not as small as Alice, with pitch black, messy hair in a halo around his head. His eyes were the most abnormal shade of green Edward had ever seen, and his bone structure was very attractive for a non-vampire. If he became a vampire, he could probably rival Rosalie with his looks.

It took him a few seconds to realize that he didn't hear anything from Potter's mind in response to Angela's question. Not a peep.

Confused, he looked over to where the new kids were sitting, and found himself staring at a heart-shaped face. Bella Swan. He'd seen her face in the minds of students all day. Her face flushed an attractive shade of pink as she looked away with haste. Edward was shocked to learn that he heard nothing from her either. Nothing at all from either of the new kids. And they weren't related either, so it couldn't be attributed to familial ties.

How?

"Is England really all foggy and dreary like I see people say online?" asked Jessica Stanley, who was sitting across from both marvels at their long lunch table. _My Twitter friends say it is._

Harry shrugged. "Depends on the place. It rains a little more than I'd like. Though it does seem like I've traded one rainy place for another in moving here."

Still nothing was reaching out to Edward about either new student. It was so… strange for him. He'd been hearing people's thoughts for over a century, but now he couldn't?

Mike Newton dropped into a seat in front of Bella since Harry was seated in the only space to her right. On his other side was Angela and on her other side was Lauren Mallory. Across from them were Mike, Jessica, Eric Yorkie, and Tyler Crowley.

Mike held up his iPhone 7 for all of them to see, his mind relaying his excitement ahead of time. Through Angela's eyes, Edward saw a knife that was red hot, slicing through a piece of bread and toasting it on contact. It looked almost like the bread knife version of a lightsaber. "Imagine stabbing someone with this knife," Mike proposed in all seriousness but with enough good humor to not be seen as a lunatic. He even imagine a faceless man being stabbed with it!

In Mike's mind, the vision of Bella's frown was clear as day as she said quietly, revealing her voice to Edward's ears for the first time, "Mmm. It would instantly cauterize the wound so it isn't a very effective tool." She was correct of course.

Harry snickered then, coming into full focus in Mike's vision then and his smirk turned dark. "If you want information that someone doesn't feel like parting with then it _is_ pretty effective." He was also correct, though morbidly so.

And Angela, the innocent that she was, leaned over the table with all sincerity and bafflement and asked in minute horror, "Why would you stab a _person_ when you can have toast?!"

Mike laughed loud and long and chucked a grape from his tray at her, which she batted away like a pro who'd done it many times before. He then looked to the new students and asked, "You guys going to get some lunch?"

Bella shrugged and stood, leaving her bag on the table. "I suppose. I wasn't hungry before but I now am." Her head remained angled downward as she walked away, Mike leading her like a loyal puppy.

On the other hand, Harry held up a banana and a can of Coke and shook his head at Jessica's curious look. "I don't really eat much of anything during lunch periods since I prefer to get homework done quickly so i can have free time later. And judging by what this school serves, I'm pretty certain I won't miss out. I'll bring something more filling tomorrow. I'm thinking of baking chocolate chip biscuits too."

_Probably has anorexia,_ came the rude thoughts of Lauren. _He's so skinny it's embarrassing. Try hard fag._ As usual, Edward was reminded of why he didn't like the girl. Her shallow intolerance and superficial attitude were very unappealing.

Edward's attention was drawn back to his siblings, who were each expressing a level of shock over the conversation that had just occurred. Jasper was particularly mortified.

"Newton really just proposed the idea of stabbing someone and Swan and Potter were just fine with it!" Emmett said, looking like he wanted to laugh so hard. He was barely holding back because his laugh with like the roaring of a bear. Rosalie was shocked internally but stone-faced outwardly. Alice was smiling wide _still_.

For a moment, Edward considered informing them that he couldn't hear the thoughts of the new students, but decided against it. It wouldn't really matter anyway.

It wasn't as if they were a threat to him or his family. They were just... interesting.

* * *

"Who are _they_?" asked Bella, gesturing to the table of very attractive people on the other side of the cafeteria. Her attention had suddenly caught them on her way back to the table and their collective beauty had literally stunned her for a moment. How was it possible for one person, let alone five, to be that attractive?

The blond girl was especially unlike anything Bella had ever seen before!

Harry looked over to where she was blatantly staring and whistled. "Hot!" he declared before returning to his Biology homework, which looked to be puzzling him somewhat. Harry had said science and math weren't his area of expertise and she supposed he was right. Maybe she should tutor him later on.

Jessica smiled and leaned over the table with a confiding smirk. "They're the Cullens. They moved down here from Alaska like two years ago and they keep to themselves."

Angela nodded. "In order from left to right is Jasper Hale and Alice Cullen. They're a thing. Then Rosalie Hale and Emmett Cullen, _they're_ a thing. And finally Edward Cullen. Dr. and Mrs. Cullen adopted all of them. From what we heard, Alice, Emmett, and Edward have been with her since they were eight or nine since she's technically their aunt."

Her heart practically warmed in a show of intense emotion and admiration for a couple she didn't even know. "That was sweet of them." Very sweet of them to do. So many people wouldn't be willing to take in children not physically their own.

Harry nodded along his agreement. "Not many young and new couples would take on that kind of responsibility. Even for a relative. And it's obvious they're all well-cared for. They're very fortunate and I sincerely hope they appreciate their adoptive parents." The dark look in his eyes made Bella wonder what had put it there. She didn't want to ask in front of anyone though. Didn't want to intrude on his privacy like that.

Oddly, after his words, Edward Cullen looked over at him for a moment, mouth working in a heart-stopping smile before looking away just as quickly. It was like he'd heard what Harry had said.

"Mrs. Cullen probably can't have kids," said Jessica in what had to be a minor fit of jealousy. As if that lessened the kindness of the couple's actions. "That's probably why they keep adopting instead of having their own."

"Well adoption means five less children trapped in the system of foster care," said Harry frankly. "Overpopulation is very much a thing and helping existing children in need is always a noble quest." Bella had to agree.

His words seemed to make Jessica settle down with how intensely he'd spoken them. And the entire Cullen table seemed to magically loosen up a bit, looking less stiff and bored. Like they'd heard him.

Lunch went on normally, with Bella only looking over a few times to get another look at the beautiful Cullen kids. The last one, the model-like one, Edward, never looked back in their direction again. Being the new kids really didn't interest the Cullens, but since they were the most recent new kids, it made sense in a way.

When the bell rang, they all stood and collected their things. "How was Biology?" Bella asked Harry as they were leaving.

He shrugged. "Not my thing, that's for sure, but the teacher was nice. Are you good at it?"

"I was in Advanced Placement in Arizona," she said quietly, so she didn't sound like a braggart and didn't want anyone else to know.

"Then you'll do fine. I've got Government now, so I'll see you in Gym." He'd walked her right up to the door of the building Biology II was held in and then took off at a run toward his next class.

She found Mike Newton beside her as she walked into class and handed her slip to the teacher who had been expecting her unlike all the others. When she turned to go to her seat, she found that she'd be seated next to Edward Cullen, who looked like he wanted to _die_ , hand pressed to his mouth and eyes staring out the window with discomfort.

When she sat down, he leaned away from her as subtly as he could manage, and she took a second to discreetly sniff at her hair and found nothing offensive. To _her_ senses at least. The dead silence coming from him was awkward though because everyone else had been staring at her all day and some were brave enough to draw her into conversation even. But he didn't do anything but push her copy of the classwork across the table in her direction, and stare.

The whole class period was spent with Edward leaning as far away as he possibly could with the limited space the table offered, while Bella curled in on herself, trying to think of what his problem could be.

Nothing came to mind. She'd never met him before. Had never spoken to him before. She couldn't think of anything she might have done to offend him.

When she peeked at him for the millionth time, right before the bell for the changeover rang, she regretted it, finding dark, almost black eyes glaring down at her. She hadn't done anything to deserve such a look! What was his problem?!

Bella wasn't confrontational by nature though, and wasn't brave enough to demand an explanation as a result.

Edward was out of his seat and out the door in a motion that was too fluid for how rushed it had been, when the bell rang. Bella blinked, wondering just what the hell was going on.

* * *

Harry frowned the moment he saw Bella in Gym. Her mood had taken a serious dive since Lunch and when he appeared at her side in concern, she shook her head at him and mouthed the word ' _later_ '.

Gym was Physical Education. Hogwarts never had anything like that and the closest he got to it was Quidditch Practice with Oliver Wood. Bella was not happy about it obviously. She wasn't of the physically inclined sort it seemed.

As for Harry, he'd never played Volleyball in his life and Coach Clapp had to literally coach him through a mock game for him to understand just what was going on.

It was actually kind of fun. He had a good spike.

Once everything was finished, they made their way back to the office to hand in their papers for Mrs. Cope to mark down. They found Edward Cullen in the room already, trying to switch out of Biology II. And when they walked in, Harry saw him stiffen and then look over his shoulder, aiming a glare at Bella.

"There are no other open places. I'm afraid you'll have to stay in Biology, dear," Mrs. Cope was saying to him.

"Thank you for your help," he told her in a tight but respectful tone, and then he stormed past them and out the door. Harry could feel Bella shudder beside him.

Edward Cullen was now on his shite list. He didn't know what had happened, but he doubted the teen would ever manage to set things to rights.

* * *

"You can't go yet," said Alice the moment he made it to the Volvo. She was waiting with everyone else, all of them looking concerned and confused over what was happening. Jasper instantly tried calming him down, piling on the calm as much as he could.

" _Why_?" Edward demanded through gritted teeth. He was still reeling over how… appetizing Bella Swan smelled. He'd never been near a human who made him nearly break his control before. He'd seen it happen to Emmett and Jasper. Had seen the events in their minds even. But it had never happened to him and he'd assumed he was just used to their way of life like Carlisle was.

Animals were food, not humans.

The urge to just grab her and drain her dry in the middle of a class full of children was too much. His control had been pushed to the limit. And it was his loyalty to Carlisle and his desire to coexist with humanity, that kept him in line long enough to get away. He'd held his breath the entire hour.

Alice shook her head. "It's important that we stay and listen. I couldn't see why, but it will help us understand Harry at least and that's something that is _necessary_."

"Why does _he_ matter?" Rosalie demanded rudely, only to get a quelling glare from the Seer among them.

With his siblings around him, ready to wrestle him away if necessary, they waited in the Volvo, listening and watching as Bella and Harry left the school office together.

"So what the bloody hell was Cullen's problem?" Harry demanded as they walked.

And Bella, poor Bella whom he wanted to hate so much but could only pity for being the unfortunate victim in all of this, shrugged and tightened her thin arms around her bag. "I guess he just doesn't like me. Mike said it was unusual behavior, even for him."

This obviously didn't not sit well with Harry, who glared up at the sky. It was frustrating not being able to hear his thoughts. Or Bella's. "Do you want me to kill that guy for you? 'Cause he sounds like an asshole and I will totally kill that guy for you." He said it so plainly and with a straight face even.

Emmett burst into surprised laughter. _What the hell?!_

Jasper's thoughts were relatively the same.

Both Rosalie and Alice were stock still in shock.

Bella's face betrayed her horror and confusion. "I… really can't tell if you're joking or not. You wouldn't _kill_ someone, right?"

There was silence between them as Harry's face split into a very charming smile that did not reach his eyes. The kind of grin that made Edward shiver a bit in discomfort, since he didn't know the thoughts accompanying it. "Did you hear about the string of gas leaks in Britain in the past few years that mirrored the ones from twenty years ago?"

All of them nodded subconsciously, even if only one person listening could actually be seen. They didn't know what that had to do with anything though.

"Those weren't gas leaks," said Harry. "They were the actions of cult faction trying to purify the world of what they deemed to be an inferior race of humans."

"You mean like- like _Nazis_?" was Bella's dumbstruck reply.

Harry shrugged. "I guess, but dressed like the KKK in black robes. I was the son of prominent leaders in the opposing cult faction. Both factions came from the same community of pagans and the main leader of the Nazi Cult decided that we as a community were superior to all other humans and got a considerable amount of the community on his side to begin exterminating everyone not sharing our levels of intelligence, talent, and blood history. Plus those in the community who didn't agree with his actions and beliefs."

The Cullens were as baffled as Bella was, all of them just blank, unsure of what to think or how to react. Edward's incredible thirst even died off as he pondered this strange information, understanding why Alice thought this was important to hear.

How did something like that go unnoticed by authorities? How could they be tricked by ' _gas leaks_ ' as an excuse?

"Wh-what happened?" asked Bella, voicing the question they all had in mind.

The two had made it to Bella's old truck now and were seated inside with the heat on. Harry shrugged again. "So he started his campaign but a stop was put to it when he and his followers fucked up the night they targeted my family. My mum did something and the entire house blew up, taking out almost all of us. I was the only one found alive, but his robes were found without him in them. People hailed my name and decided that he must have died because the thought of him still living was something nobody wanted. I was then sent to live away from the community with my mum's Catholic sister in hopes of keeping me away from the fame.

"But then I learned my parents set up my entire secondary education at the school they'd attend with the majority of the community, and so I entered this new world of things I didn't understand, and I still don't understand everything yet. People knew my name and I was famous for not dying like my parents and it was awkward because they reasoned it out with their beliefs.

"Not everyone in the Nazi Cult were caught though. A lot of them lied about their allegiances to get out of going to prison, or were never open about their allegiances in the first place. One was my teacher. He tried to kill me when I was eleven, as revenge for the death of his master. I had to kill him."

It was horrifying. An eleven year old being indoctrinated into a cult was so unnerving. Being attacked by members of the opposing cult for things outside his control was another. What the hell was happening over in Britain?

"Harry, you do realize how messed up this all sounds, right?" Bella asked quietly, looking properly horrified. He nodded and shrugged.

"It took awhile for me to realize that it wasn't normal that his followers kept trying to kill me at school every year. And then he came back in my fourth year! He wasn't dead, he was hiding out and recuperating after being almost irreparably damaged in the explosion. And he started all that shite up again. And the leader of the not-Nazi faction, decided to take me on as an apprentice to finish off the bad guy should he get killed. And he got killed not long after. And all these people he encouraged to believe in me as some prophesied hero or whatever, looked to me to finish off the Nazi faction. So I had to.

"So long story short, I've killed people. Quite a few. And while my actions were in self defense and got me a commendation from The Crown - I can show you the gold award later, it's really cool and really heavy - and an offer to join MI5 as a special operative, I still have experience in killing. So if you do need me to handle someone, I can do it, and know how to make it never trace back to me," he finished with surety. "All you have to do is say the word."

And they all sat in silence, contemplating his story and the subsequent offer.

"Charlie is a cop, you remember? Should you be so open about these things?" asked Bella while Edward started his car and placed it in Reverse.

"You wouldn't tell him. Anyway, I was literally awarded. I got Knighted by the Queen. No one would see my actions as bad with that on my side. Besides, I left the cult entirely and decided to finish my education away from their madness. And I'm not going back unless it's to check on my godson. But I just thought you should be aware. If someone is a problem, I will my solve it, no matter the kind of problem they might be."

And Edward could feel the sincerity in his words. Something told him to take Harry Potter's claims seriously. Alice had been insistent that Potter was important for a reason, even if she couldn't See it yet.

Something was going on.

And as they were pulling out of the lot, the last thing they heard Bella say was a soft, "I'll keep that in mind, thanks."

That was when Edward decided that revealing what he'd learned that afternoon, was important to share with his family. "I can't hear their thoughts."

* * *

**~.O.~**

* * *

**A/N: The first is done!**

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Yes I used a popular Tumblr post and a John Mulaney reference. I regret nothing.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry and Bella get comfortable. Edward returns to muck it all up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TAGS: Humor and Drama. Edward's Woe is Me behavior too.
> 
> -I got a particularly dumb review last chapter and have to wonder how some people  
> can assume they know everything about the in-fic universe better than the writer. I  
> put it in the TAGS that were listed thoroughly in the first chapter. Alternate Universe  
> Canon-Divergence is the major one. I specified I'm following the Twilight Books(not  
> the movies)and that Deathly Hallows was changed up and will be explained later on.

**A/N: Hello, people!**

**I don't own Harry Potter or Twilight.**

**I have no beta.**

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* * *

**~.O.~**

* * *

"What's wrong?" Esme asked the moment they got in the door in a very obvious rush. Jasper blocked the most obvious exit just in case, and Emmett hovered in case he needed to grab Edward.

Normally, Edward did a solid 100 mph because he liked going fast for the thrill of it. This time he pushed the Volvo as far as he could - a top speed of 130 mph - to get home faster and get away from the scent of Bella Swan. Since the Police Chief lived on the other side of Forks, the chances of her scent being anywhere near their home were nonexistent.

"Chief Swan's daughter is Edward's Singer," Alice said lightly, without any worries. "He managed to stop himself from doing anything rash during Biology though, so nothing happened." She made it sound as if it was an easy thing to do and didn't take every ounce of his concentration!

The woman immediately looked to him in concern. _Is everything okay, Edward? Do you need something?_

"I'm going to visit Eleazar and Carmen for a while. I need time to hunt and prepare myself. I can't stay here like this. Can you apologize to Carlisle for me?"

The woman pressed a hand to his cheek. _Of course. Be careful. Come back when you're good and ready._

Edward borrowed Emmett's Jeep specifically for the trip, leaving his Volvo S90 with his siblings so they could continue to take it to school. Hardly anyone would notice the deviation that way.

As he drove away, he could hear Alice regaling Esme with the details of Harry Potter and Bella Swan's first day of school and shook his head.

It was a shame that this had to happen.

* * *

Harry actually had a medal. After the revelation of his former residence and what was involved, he'd invited her inside to see it in his spare room. And said medal rested in a glass case, on a royal blue cushion, in the center of the room that was filled with boxes and luggage that had yet to be emptied from the move. The medal would probably be bigger than her palm if she wanted to measure it. Then again, she had small hands.

"I even have the privilege of using the title of Sir," Harry told her. "It doesn't really come with anything else, but there is a list and my name is on it. And the offer for MI5 is open any time. I won't be taking it up any time soon since I really don't want to have to deal with danger at every end again."

"What _is_ MI5 and what's the difference between it and MI6?" she asked, thinking about James Bond and Casino Royale and trying to make some kind of connection between them.

"Think of MI5 as dealing with the UK's domestic security and MI6 dealing with foreign intelligence."

Oh. Then it would make sense that he got the offer for MI5 instead of MI6. He'd stopped a domestic terrorist organization apparently. James Bond was always going to other countries. "Are there any articles about this?"

"Should be. The gas leaks were said to be the actions of a domestic terrorist organization run by a man named Tom Riddle Jr.. I was told they made a Wikipedia page about it. I should be listed in there but my page that it'll link to is pretty barren beyond the Knighthood and where I grew up."

She'd look it up later on to get a better understanding of what had happened. Hopefully there'd be photos to parse through too. "Is a real sword used when getting Knighted?"

"Yeah! It's pretty cool too! The Queen has her own and no one is allowed to use it but her. If someone was to do the Knighting in her place they still couldn't use it."

"Wow."

"Yeah."

"Your life sounds crazy."

"It was."

"What are those ones?" she asked, pointing to the display case beside the medal of Knighthood. This case had a red cushion and three medals, but those were the only differences.

Harry smiled. "Decorations that would also be pinned to a suit. From left to right: the **Victoria Cross** , for ' _pre-eminent act of valor or self-sacrifice_ ' and then the **George Cross** for, ' _acts of the greatest heroism or of the most conspicuous courage in circumstances of extreme danger_ '. The last on the end is the **Emrys Cross**. I'm not allowed to divulge what that one is for though, sorry. Special or something."

"Emrys? As in Myrddin? Or more popularly known as Merlin?" She knew her legends pretty well. Bella liked Literature as a subject, very much, and it was often tied to mythology.

"Yeah." He didn't explain beyond that and she found it a bit strange but didn't pressure him for further answers.

Bella had a mental image of Harry, dressed in a military uniform - probably Marine since those ones were very sharp and always looked clean - and attaching all of his medals to his chest and standing at attention. The image was a nice one. Despite his eerie words that afternoon, he gave off a sort of air of a protector. That's why she felt so calm around him, even when he offered to ' _take care of_ ' Edward Cullen for her.

She really needed to get home a do a Google search!

"Is that the trophy?" she asked, pointing to what looked like a gold man holding up a gold carving of the UK, on a stand on the far side of the room. It was kind of gaudy and more out of the way than anything else. Beside it was a large, golden plaque in the shape of a shield, leaning against the wall with words that looked like they were in Latin, inscribed on the face.

"Yeah, the Commendation. I said it wasn't necessary but was pretty much told to suck it up and deal with it. The plaque is an award from my old school for saving it basically. The big fight was at the school. An attempt at terrifying the children into compliance, I think. Half the castle is gone, but not _too many_ minors died in the event, so I consider it a victory no matter how pyrrhic some would say it really was," he finished, voice dull.

Harry's life was messed up.

It was sad. It shouldn't be this easy for him to talk about tragedy, but if one had been faced with it for so long, they had to toughen up somehow, she supposed.

* * *

Edward Cullen was not at school the next day. Both Bella and Harry shared a look at that when they noticed the vacant spot at the Cullen's table. Bella refused to make a big deal of it though. She didn't care if he didn't come in to school. His business was none of her business and her life would move on whether he was in it or not.

But then he didn't come in the next day. Or the day after that. To the point where it seemed as if he transferred schools entirely. His family acted as if nothing was different though and no one else in the school seemed to notice this odd behavior.

When she and Charlie had dinner after her first day of school, she'd brought up the people who stood out and the Cullens came up. And how the students talked about them too. It was the first time she'd seen him get so heated over something in a long time.

Apparently, they'd been around for two years already, but still gained a lot of so-so attention. Half good and half bad. The kids never got in trouble though and were never anything but respectful to any adults they came across. Charlie was especially offended by the jealousy some people had for Dr. Cullen's wife and the lengths some would go to just to try and degrade her kind actions which involved making regular donations to the food drives the school held, and helping to raise money for the town's needs since the government wasn't helping much.

From what she'd gotten, Edward's attitude was especially uncommon, which made everything make even less sense! What the hell was his problem then? She'd never been this vexed by someone before!

Harry told her to just forget about him and that he wasn't her problem or worth her consideration. He also threatened to do something to him with a blunt spoon that she didn't like thinking about because the mental images were very… yeah. But she didn't doubt him.

And after reading the Wikipedia page about the ' _gas leaks_ ', she believed in his conviction without hesitation. While it didn't talk about a cult or anything, Tom Marvolo Riddle Jr. was definitely mentioned as the one spearheading the whole thing and how he did it all to draw out a man he hated, Albus Dumbledore, by killing people Albus knew, so he and his group of domestic terrorists could kill him for some old quarrel they'd had years ago.

It was all very hush-hush still, but the attacks had been described in great detail. One of the robes of the group had been recovered and true to Harry's word, looked like the costume of a KKK member, but in black, and with silver masks that apparently each bore a special design of its own.

There was an element of truth to everything. Half of what Harry had said was confirmed. And if it was even bigger than what was allowed to be shared with the public, then it made sense they didn't want to scare their citizens any more than they were already scared.

Harry's offer to help was accepted and she even viewed it as a kind of sweet offer. From what his life had been like in the past couple of years, that had to be a very common thing to say on his side. She doubted he'd fully realigned his life after only four months of the trauma being over. In his mind he probably extended a great offer of friendship and loyalty.

She could safely say that Harry _was_ definitely her friend because he was the fastest person to ever take her side in something and offer her aid without requiring something in return.

Mike Newton was like a loyal dog who followed her around because she was new, but he was a nice guy in his own way. Eric Yorkie and Mike seemed to be in a competition to see who could keep her attention the longest. On Harry's side, Lauren Mallory had already been denied her request for a date despite how she'd been nothing but frosty to him on their first day of school. And another girl that Bella didn't really know had asked him out too, which he had again refused.

It just seemed like Harry wasn't much interested in that kind of thing. His attention was always split in so many directions that he didn't ever focus on one topic for too long. He was trying to get better at Biology without much success, and his Trig was abysmal to put it nicely. He didn't have time for socializing the way people wanted him to, but he also didn't seem to be jumping at the chance to socialize in person.

Crowds seemed to bother him as much as they bothered her, but probably for different reasons, which was sad.

School the next week showed a change in temperature. In March.

It got even colder and started to snow. It was the last month of Winter technically so why was it snowing _now_?! The air and ground should be getting warmer to welcome Spring!

"I thought this stuff was supposed to come down individually," she said when she and Harry met up at her truck on Monday morning. "The hell is this shit? It's all wet and gross."

"You've never seen snow before?" he asked, looking like he wanted to cackle and barely holding back for the sake of her embarrassment.

"On T.V.," she clarified.

"In the Scottish Highlands we got it up to our waists if it wasn't managed in time. The whole lake would freeze over even."

She took a moment to imagine Harry standing in waist high snow, and shuddered. "Ew," she decided.

He snickered as they got in the truck.

The day was filled with snowball fights that neither she nor Harry participated in. For him, it was as if the snow fell around him but not on him. His glasses didn't even fog up. His hair remained perfectly dry somehow when he wasn't rushing from place to place to stay dry. It was so unfair! As for Bella, she carried a binder in hand, ready to defend herself at a moment's notice the top of her head was wet and freezing!

"How are you doing it?" she demanded as they entered the cafeteria for Lunch period.

The other teen shrugged and sent her a smirk that held more meaning than she could understand. "Guess I'm just impervious to water or something."

They got in line, surveying their options which ended up being pizza that hadn't been warm in who knows how long, and salad that looked limp and not fit for human consumption. She got a carton of milk and an apple since the food was lackluster. Harry decided to spend money at the snack bar for pretzels and Coke. He'd brought a baggy of ' _mince pies_ ' from home though. He said they were a guilty pleasure of his.

And they were good too! Harry's baking was supreme!

Harry tsked suddenly, drawing her attention. "Don't look now but the Grand Twat has returned from on high to mingle with us commoners."

And just when she had finally gotten used to his absence without feeling weird! Now Biology was going to be all awkward!

* * *

Edward's morning had been full of reassurances from Alice and Esme. They both had faith, one with literal concrete evidence, that he would make it through the day just fine. Esme had given him a tight hug and patted his cheek softly, and Alice punched his shoulder and winked at him as if she knew something that he didn't.

Hearing Harry Potter call him a ' _twat_ ' the moment he finally caught sight of Edward after a week, made him a cross between annoyed and amused. He'd love to say he did nothing wrong, but his attitude the former week had been terrible and he knew it. But it was at least better than killing someone in cold blood, so he didn't feel _that_ guilty over it.

It gave Alice a good laugh though. She was the most playful of his siblings. The rest were kind of on edge and waiting to pin him down if necessary. Jasper had already mentally mapped out the ways in which he could hold Edward down with as little resistance as possible.

"Is he looking this way?" Bella asked lowly, though it was as clear as a bell to Edward's advanced hearing. And he was specifically listening for her reaction above all the white noise in the room.

"No, but if he does I'll flip him off for you."

"I would much rather ignore his existence entirely."

"I suppose… sucks that he's such a prat though. He's so pleasing to look at. Look at his cheekbones! And his jaw! Fuuuuuck!"

" _Harry_!" was Bella's mortified wail of a whisper.

"What? He's hot. I can appreciate his face even if I don't like him."

If Edward was capable of blushing still, his face would be lit up because his siblings were all listening in and their thoughts immediately turned to teasing him over his ' _hot face_ '.

Potter sighed almost longingly. "It's a face I could sit on."

" _Harry_!" came Bella's even more mortified wail the second time around. Edward echoed her reaction with his emotions. Jasper did nothing but laugh.

"What? I refuse to be ashamed of my sexual interests. I was shamed enough already for things outside of my control and I'm not letting this bring me down in the least."

"Not that," Bella murmured, "it's just awkward talking that way about another person. Out loud. Especially since we're all minors."

There was silence for a moment, which was frustrating since usually he'd be able to hear what both were thinking if they were anyone else! Then Harry said, "I kind of get where you're going but we're practically adults now already. Besides, I could've been more crass and simply chose not to be because we're in public and I _have_ standards for myself. They're not quite like what normal people would have but they're there."

Bella grumbled all the way to their table but said no more on the matter.

Somehow, Edward felt more relaxed at the prospect of speaking with Bella now. And he actually wanted to meet Harry too.

A human's interest in him was nothing new since he was a vampire and had the naturally alluring disposition that literally lured in what was supposed to be their prey. But the way Harry spoke didn't make Edward feel like an object, if that made any sense. Which was strange because he'd heard similar sentiments from the thoughts of humans for years.

Maybe his interest in Harry made him biased.

* * *

"So how was it?" Harry asked the moment they met up in Gym. As they were on the same team today, they stayed near one another. He basically guarded her the whole time and took up the duty of two people but it was fine since she was not an athlete.

"He talked to me."

" _Really_?"

"His voice is really nice."

"And what did you talk about?"

She shrugged. "He apologised for not getting to introduce himself last week, and then we were lab partners for labeling the phases of mitosis."

They'd had to do that in his class too. He'd hated it and his partner, whose name wasn't memorable, ended up saving his arse. Harry would probably buy them lunch as payment later on.

"Our hands touched while changing slides and he's really cold. Like, ice-pack kind of cold," she insisted quietly before diving for the floor to avoid getting hit with a dodgeball. In that moment, Harry managed to hit another oncoming ball away with the one in his hand.

"And then we talked about the weather."

Harry snorted. "Is he really that uninteresting?"

Bella shrugged. "But get this, last week I took very clear note of how black his eyes were because they were just so eerie and unnatural in shade. They made him look scary which was what put me on edge so much. Today his eyes were the color of butterscotch, but he denied wearing contacts when I asked."

Now that _was_ indeed interesting. Cold, unnaturally handsome, and eyes that went from black to yellow? Could be a magical creature. He'd need to get a good look at the others, because all the Cullens were unnaturally attractive. Harry hadn't read his Defence Against the Dark Arts tome in a long time since he excelled in that class the most and felt he hadn't needed to.

"He also knew to call me Bella instead of Isabella like everyone else has been all week."

Yes, that was definitely weird.

"And is he as handsome up close as he is from far away?" Harry asked with a smirk.

Bella's face flushed an abhorrent shade of red, but she nodded shyly.

"And did he do anything arseholeish today?"

"Well... he still looked uncomfortable but there was no glaring or anything."

"Then I suppose he's off my shite list. For now." Anything could happen. He'd get a chance and Harry sincerely hoped he didn't fuck this up.

After Gym they headed out to the truck, and Harry asked a question he'd been pondering for a week but wasn't sure of how to ask without sounding inept. Eventually he got so frustrated that he swallowed his pride and got it over with. "Can you help me set up my laptop and then teach me how to work it?"

Bella sent him a confused look. "You… don't know how to use a laptop?"

He flushed and nodded. "My aunt and uncle did the bare minimum the law required when I lived with them. I wasn't allowed to touch anything of my cousin's unless I was taking his things up to his bedroom or cleaning his bedroom. He had a computer but he put his fist through it in a fit, so they got him a laptop, but he sat on it and the battery leaked all over the screen, so they bought him another but he cracked it in half, and another which he threw at a wall during a tantrum, and another that ended up getting ice cream all over it and stopped working. And many more after that. But I never learned how to use them myself. And the cults I mentioned are very old-fashioned. Like, quills and parchment old-fashioned. Like, horse-drawn carriages old-fashioned. Like corsets and stays as part of the regular wardrobe kind of old-fashioned."

The young woman blinked as she processed all that information, and then shook her head. "You got a laptop?"

"Yeah."

"And you have an internet connection?"

"My neighbors on the right, the Smiths, will let me use their internet if I get something called Netflix and allow them access to it with at least three screens or something, and honestly, that's so much easier than me having to set things up because I don't understand half of this shite."

"How'd you get your TV set up then?"

"I don't have one of those."

She sent him one of _those_ looks again and he said, "I wasn't allowed to watch the telly so I've never gotten into it. I'm just doing the laptop thing because I've learned that school projects, especially in normal schools in 2020, require an internet connection. So I bought a bunch of things with names I'm familiar with and know go together for optimal performance, but I don't understand most of their uses. What is a hard drive?"

Bella unlocked the truck door for him and then went around to her side. "Do you know how to use _any_ electronics?"

"Some," he admitted blithely. "I got a new iPhone that took weeks for me to learn how to use. And I have Spotify as a mobile application so I can listen to all sorts of music any time I want without advertisements! And it is so much cooler than my old gramophone because I don't have to crank a lever. And it's easier to carry around because I don't have to lug this big arse, brass horn everywhere! Though I do have the gramophone set up anyway just in case. For aesthetic purposes mostly." It _looked_ cool at least, which kind of made it worth the trouble.

"You have an honest to God phonograph?" asked Bella, jaw practically in her own lap. "As in a super old record player?"

"Yeah."

"And how big is the horn?"

He took a moment to think, before stretching out his right arm and gesturing from the tip of his middle finger to his shoulder, with his left index finger. "The mouth is about this much."

"I've never seen one in person before."

"I can show you it sometime! I have a lot of records!"

* * *

"Were things better this time around?" Esme asked that afternoon when they'd gotten home.

He was a bit iffy on that. "I was able to make light conversation with her and apologized for my behavior. We talked about the weather. But no, her scent was still as intense as before." It made his mouth fill with venom and his whole body ache!

"You'll get used to it," Alice told him confidently from the sofa. "After being around her every day it'll become quite a bit easier. Being gone for a week probably made it worse because it was like she was new all over again."

That was a good point.

Also, he felt compelled to ask, "Am I going to meet Harry Potter any time in the near future?" Just to satiate his interest of course. And hope fervently that the other teen didn't have blood as appealing as Bella's.

She merely grinned in her usual, all-knowing way and proceeded to mentally do runs of Bohemian Rhapsody in true Freddie Mercury fashion.

Esme patted his shoulder in passing and said, "Whatever you choose to do, we'll help. All you have to do is ask, you know."

Edward did not deserve such devotion.

Sometimes it hurt to think that someone like Esme or Carlisle could possibly be damned. They were too good, and not like Edward at all. _They_ never strayed from their chosen path, not once. _They_ had both managed to control themselves. And yet they'd also never hated him for _his_ faults and mistakes.

In personal belief, Edward deserved Hell.

And it was that stark fact that reminded him that being friends with any human was incredibly risky to all involved and that really, he should stay away no matter how much the new students intrigued him.

No need to damn them too.

* * *

"What's Spirit Week?" Harry asked the next day when he saw all the posters that suddenly appeared on the school walls overnight. The second week of April was to be Spirit Week. Forks' only high school sports team was a Basketball Team and they had to wait for the bigger schools in Washington to get past their Football season to begin their games.

She personally didn't think it was enough to have a Spirit Week, but maybe it was for morale or something like that.

"Typically it's a week of dressing up in accordance with certain themes, leading up to a Homecoming Football game and then a dance. Those usually happen in like October though. Since Forks doesn't have a Football team, and instead has a Basketball team, they have to wait for the other sports season to be over. So Forks celebrates in a lead up to Prom I think." Something she wasn't interested in.

The poster was pretty simple.

**SPIRIT WEEK!**   
**April 6th - April 10th 2020!**

**April 6th - Medieval Day**   
**April 7th - Victorian Era Day**   
**April 8th - Sci-Fi Day**   
**April 9th - Anime Day**   
**April 10th - Mythology Day**

**At the end of each day will be a voting ceremony. The final class period will**   
**be replaced as the students gather in the gymnasium and vote for the most**   
**impressive costume of the day. The winner will receive an automatic A+ as**   
**a final grade in their class of choice. On Saturday night(Prom), there will be**   
**a contest for the Best Dressed Student for the entire week, based on the five  
winners, and they'll win ** **exemption from taking two end-of-term exams of  
their choice and receive ** **an automatic A+ instead.**

**Prom: April 11th!**   
**7:30 PM - 11 PM**   
**Forks High School**   
**Gymnasium  
$5 Admission**

**For additional details contact Mrs. Cope at the FRONT OFFICE.**

Harry looked excited. "We get to dress up and no one can say shite about it?"

"Basically. The clothes _have_ to be appropriate though, so no nudity, but you get the idea."

"This is going to be perfect!"

She didn't see how, but the twinkle in Harry's eye let her know that he planned to take the event seriously.

* * *

Luna,

I'm settling in very well here in Forks. You were right of course, I should probably stop  
doubting you when you always seem to be right about everything.

My newest friend is named Isabella Swan. I think she is the ' _little swan'_ you mentioned  
before I left? She is hilarious and oddly accepting of strange things. I told her about the  
' _terrorist attacks_ ' and while she looked a bit concerned, she took it pretty well. She then  
went home and looked into it herself to verify my words and has seemingly gotten over  
it. Like it doesn't matter. And she doesn't look at me any different either.

Not sure if I've ever met a person so level-headed. She even makes Mione seem a little  
mad!

Listen, there is something a little strange going on. There are five students who are all a  
off in a way. They do look human, but Bella and I have both noted some odd things about  
them, and I'd hesitate to say they are totally human. Bella is a bit obsessed with finding  
out the truth, which has affected me by association.

I wanted to ask if you could lend me your Diamond Edition of Newt's _**Fantastic Beings  
& Where To Find Them.**_ I only have **_Fantastic Beasts & Where To Find Them _**and  
all the creatures in it are animal-like. I also can't seem to find the book I need in any of  
the magical shops in America. British deliveries can't come this far apparently? I asked  
if I could order something and it be shipped to NYC and then I'd Apparate over and pick  
it up over there, but apparently that's just not on?

Anyway, how are things going over there with me gone? How many articles have called  
me a betrayer for not sticking around and solving everyone's remaining problems? How  
many people have bothered you lot to demand to know where I've gone? And do I need  
to put someone in their place?

Say the word and I'm there to help if you need me.

When are you planning to go on your trip? Just after graduating or maybe waiting a bit?  
Have you convinced Newt to take you on as an Apprentice yet?

Yours,  
Harry.

**P.S.** Is it strange to be smitten with more than one person at a time? Even if you don't  
know one of them at all?

**P.P.S.** I kind of want to tell Bella about magic. She seems like she'd be cool with it.

Luna smiled and folded up the letter. She looked toward her designated desk in her dorm, easily spotting the book Harry had requested.

The silvery words on the spine seemed to shine in the sunlight streaming in through the open window.

Her mind was filled with visions of a beautiful man with a face not unlike Cedric Diggory's, as he stood in a sunlit meadow. His golden eyes and exposed skin sparkling unnaturally like millions of diamonds, let her know he wasn't human. He stared down two real humans who watched him in awe. One was Harry, looking besotted, and the other was familiar only from a former vision. Bella Swan. Her expression mirrored Harry's perfectly.

Yes, Harry would need _**Fantastic Beings & Where To Find Them**_ post haste.

* * *

**~.O.~**

* * *

**A/N: The first is done!**

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CHECK OUT MY MANY OTHER FICS! ^-^


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magic happens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TAGS: Drama and Mild Language.
> 
> Vampire Types and where I got them from.
> 
> Type #1: Bram Stoker kind of Vampire.  
> Type #2: Vampire Knight kind of Vampire.  
> Type#3: Vampire Diaries kind of Vampire.  
> Type#4: Twilight kind of Vampire.
> 
> -Because I can.

**A/N: Hello, people!**

**I don't own Harry Potter or Twilight.**

**I have no beta.**

**ENJOY!**

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* * *

**~.O.~**

* * *

"What are they doing and why do we have to be here for it?" Rosalie demanded as they all sat in the Volvo at the end of an unproductive school day, watching as Bella Swan followed Harry Potter toward the woods for some reason.

The vampires were of course, listening in on the conversation at Alice's order, and trying to puzzle out what was going on.

Edward once again lamented not being able to hear what was going on in the minds of the human anomalies. Since he couldn't hear anything at all, he had no context and it was annoying!

"Why exactly, are we going over here?" Bella asked as she stumbled after her friend, who seemed to not share her issues with balance on flat _or_ bumpy surfaces. She managed to hit every rock Harry avoided and it was kind of funny and kind of sad at the same time.

"Technically _I_ was just going to come over here, but _you_ followed me."

"'Cause I didn't want to leave you alone! I'm not exactly a fighter or anything but numbers tend to make potential assault less likely to happen. I have Charlie's number pulled up in case."

"I don't think anything's going to happen that will require Chief Swan's assistance when we're this close to the school and highway, Bella."

"With my shit luck, I'm not taking chances," Bella countered firmly. "So _why_ are we here?"

Harry laughed, the sound echoing off the trees that swallowed them up so the vampires could only listen to them now. "I think I saw Wormwood, and if I did, I have need of it."

There was a moment of silence where nothing was said and Bella continued stumbling alongside Harry's sure steps, before she asked, "Isn't that stuff toxic?"

"Indeed."

"And why would you need it?"

"Reasons that I might share with you later on if you prove that you can keep a secret."

Bella huffed and Edward swore he heard Harry murmur, too low for Bella's ears, ' _Oculus_ '. What the Latin word for ' _eye_ ' had to do with anything, he didn't know. The only thing he was aware of that used that word was the Oculus Rift and that had to do with gaming.

There was the sound of scissors working, and then an ' _ah-ha_ ' sound from Harry.

"Is it Wormwood?" Bella asked.

"Yes! A lot of it too! I knew it could grow in the Northern US and Canada but I didn't think it would be all the way over here. Forks doesn't exactly have the kind of soil or climate it would grow in, I believe."

"Why do you know so much about... plants in general? I saw the small greenhouse connected to your back door and I wondered what you were planning to grow in there."

"So much stuff. When I get things situated and they actually look decent, I promise I'll show you."

And that was that.

The mystery surrounding Harry Potter continued to grow by the day.

* * *

"Hey, Hedwig! You didn't have to immediately come back, girl."

Said owl gave him a sharp hoot, her gold eyes narrowing in challenge as if he'd offered some grave insult.

"I'm sorry to have doubted you, but I worry about your wing ever since you got hit with that curse."

Harry had very well almost lost his first ever friend months ago, because she had taken out a few Death Eaters to stop them from pursuing him while he was on the run. She'd been very brave and had used her talons masterfully to blind them while they were chasing him on brooms, taking out four Death Eaters all on her own by plucking out their eyes and then causing them to fall about one hundred meters to their deaths.

One unfortunately managed to get a hit in, but not all the way. Harry had managed to catch her, and between Hagrid and Luna, she was healed up in no time. Still, he couldn't help being worried about her well-being all the time ever since.

She shouldn't have gotten hurt at all since he'd released her and told her to flee. Instead, she felt compelled to protect him and had gotten hurt in the process. Harry was like her overprotective dad now.

The package she'd delivered from Luna was bigger than just a simple book. It had been charmed to be light enough to carry, but it was still massive. Bigger than Hedwig even. And she'd made it across borders with it, under a Notice-Me-Not Charm.

Inside he found the book on magical Beings he'd asked to borrow, a tin full of biscuits from the Hogwarts Kitchens which Luna knew he loved, and a book on Magical Thread-Warding.

If Luna had seen fit to send him more than what he'd asked for, then it had to be important to him in the future. Thankfully he already knew how to sew, so that didn't seem like it would be too difficult to get into.

As for the special book, he was very careful in handling it, and proceeded to read it from start to finish, keeping his eyes peeled for the details he was specifically looking for, while letting his magic make him some tea to go with his new biscuits.

* * *

"Is that an owl?" Bella asked that afternoon once she took notice of the creature currently resting on what she realized was a perch and not a random statue of a bare tree, in Harry's living room. And her question was rhetorical since she knew it was an owl, she just didn't know why it was where it was so to speak.

"That's Hedwig! She was my first ever friend!" Harry said from in the kitchen where he was fixing up tea upon his own insistence. "I got her as my first gift when I was eleven and we've been inseparable ever since!"

"I've never heard of domesticated owls," Bella admitted from the sofa. Parrots, ducks, chickens, peafowl, falcons, and even pigeons, but not owls.

"A very common pet in the UK actually."

"Really?"

"Yeah. She's brilliant too." Said owl hooted in response, puffing her chest out, and Bella didn't doubt him as a result.

Harry returned with tea and an odd looking cookie that he held out to the owl. Her golden eyes glinted and she snapped it up in her beak, tilting her head back and breaking it into several pieces to inhale at once.

A bird was Harry's first friend. At age eleven. Every time she heard something about his childhood, she wanted to punch something, which was abnormal since she wasn't a violent person by nature. Yet she felt so protective over little-Harry that she wanted to defend him and save him from the problems he shouldn't have had to deal with.

"Want to meet her?" Harry asked while running his fingers carefully down the white plumage. "She's very nice, I promise. Always on her best behavior!"

Eventually, Bella was coaxed into touching the bird that had spent several minutes eerily staring at her when she had been let inside the house. Hedwig was indeed, nice. And Bella would swear she sent Harry a sly look once they made contact!

How smart could birds be?

"Where does her name come from? I've never heard it before."

"Hedwig, the Patron Saint of Silesia, was known for her work in helping Widowed, Impoverished, or Orphaned people. She started hospitals and dedicated her life to helping others in the 13th century," he revealed quietly. "I found the name in my history book and it has proven to be apt. Some thought she was a witch, others thought she was an angel sent by the Christian God. I simply think she was a hero."

A name of a woman in history who had been known for taking care of orphans, was bestowed upon his first friend.

She wondered what Hedwig had done to protect him, because with how he watched the bird and how the bird watched him back, _something_ had happened for such devotion to form between them.

Bella wondered if having a pet was always like that, or if perhaps Harry and Hedwig were special. As Bella had killed both fish she'd tried to raise when she was little, she knew nothing about having a pet.

* * *

" _How are things going, Harry?_ "

He sighed into the receiver, "Fine, Mione. The house is pretty modest for Sirius' standards and has been nice. I've made a new friend and might possibly have a larger group of them by the end of term. And I think there are vampires among the students."

There was silence on the other end of the line, before his bookish friend sighed hard. " _Only you would leave the magical world and somehow still run into magical beings._ "

"From what I've observed from Luna's loaned copy of **Fantastic Beings** , they fit the page on Type #4 Vampires, so they're not like the ones Voldemort used in the Battle of Hogwarts. They're apparently harder to find and I'm so glad he didn't have any of them because they would be so much scarier than the ones we faced who were so easy to keep up with and kill."

Yes, he was certain the Cullens were vampires.

The fascinating thing about vampires was the fact that they came in different kinds. Species perhaps. Newt Scamander had really done his best to discover everything he could about the different kinds out there.

> Simply put:
> 
> **Type #1:** Dead. Cannot come into contact with silver. Cannot see their reflections in mirrors backed by silver. Can be staked with wood through the heart and will turn to dust. Frozen at the time of their change. A little faster and stronger than humans. Can turn into bats. Have fangs. Have slightly heightened senses. Obsessively need to count things in mass quantities. Burn to a crisp in sunlight. Must be invited in. Have venom that can change humans into vampires and kills werewolves. Can die by werewolf bites.
> 
> **Type #2:** Alive. Born as what they are typically. Weak to sun but don't burn from it. Can see their reflections in anything. Harder to kill. Cutting off their heads won't really work as they can be reattached in time and will heal. Usually have some kind of ability that runs in their families. Far faster and stronger than humans and have supernatural senses. The older ones can turn into an animal of their choice. Some have the power to turn humans into vampires and if the changed vampire does not drink the blood of the one who changed them, they'll go mad and have to be killed off before they expose their kind to muggles.
> 
> **Type #3:** A mix of 1 & 2\. Frozen in their state forever, but can eat and drink normal food like humans. The only differences between them and the Type #2 Vampires were the fact that the human has to die with the blood of this type in their system in order to be changed at all, that they can wear enchanted jewelry that can stop them from burning in the sunlight, and that they're extremely weak to the vervain herb.
> 
> **Type #4:** Frozen in time. If changed too young, cannot mentally grow past where they'd been changed, which meant no changing children. The fastest and strongest of the Vampire Types, with the best senses. Few entered their immortal lives with quantifiable natural talents, but they were recorded with examples of Sight, Elements, and Shielding. Bodies like granite and with venom so light and a lack of pores that their skin gave a prismatic effect in the sunlight. Their feeding habits also determined the colour of their eyes. Black for hunger, red for human blood, gold for animal blood, and purple for blood from magical creatures. They were constantly cold because of lack of blood flow and granite-like skin and preferred living in dark places.

Obviously, the Cullens were the last kind of vampire. It was fascinating! If Hermione was there, she'd want to ask so many questions because they were the kind that magical people knew the least about because so few had been recorded in history. There was no further knowledge on them. Newt had done the best he could from the one he'd met personally but that vampire had been hesitant to reveal too much information.

All that was truly important was that they had their own leaders and laws to an extent. And that those leaders know a little about the Wixen World but had chosen to remain separated. And considering how wix went unaware of this type of vampire until the 1920s, they'd done a damn good job at keeping under the radar.

Newt's open attitude and kind disposition really benefited wix, whether they knew it or not. People should be more grateful to him and his work.

" _You're being safe, right?_ " Hermione asked, drawing him back to the present.

"Yes, Mione. I'm even doing decently in school." If one ignored his Maths and Biology grades.

" _Which you have to get to soon, so I'll let you go,_ " the woman said softly. " _Take care, Harry. Don't be a stranger._ "

"Bye, Mione."

A few minutes later, he was out the door and into the snow, watching as Bella painstakingly took her time getting to her truck. Ever since they'd met, he'd noticed her lack of coordination and on normal ground she was a hazard. Black ice was certainly not her friend.

He managed to make to her side in time to catch her during what would have been a rough fall and probably a twisted ankle.

"Thanks!" she gasped, gripping his arms tightly she was set on her feet again. They shuffled over to the truck together, her grip remaining strong on his arm.

Somehow, the drive to the school wasn't dangerous at all. He'd expected some bad roads because of the shite weather conditions and the fact that Forks lacked anything for plowing. But no, it had been pretty smooth the whole way. Bella hadn't even slid on any ice! It was as if there was no ice at all!

It was only upon arrival that they found out why.

"Charlie put chains on the tires," Bella murmured as she crouched down at the back of the truck to run a gloved hand over the rubber and metal.

As Harry knew nothing about cars, he asked, "Is that something you _have_ to do?"

"In some places it's a law," she said, voice tight and eyes a bit misty. "Not in Forks though. But he did it anyway because he wanted us to be safe."

Chief Swan was awesome. He really tried his best to be a good father. Bella was very lucky to have him.

"Not to make things awkward deliberately," he started in warning, because it _was_ about to become awkward, "but I wish I had parents. And I'd like them to be like him if I had 'em."

She gave him a sad look but didn't say anything, which he found he preferred. While he loved Ron and Hermione, sometimes they would coddle and it would get annoying very quickly. Harry didn't spend his days lamenting his orphan status or anything, but he was allowed to be envious of this one thing without being pitied all the time.

"I forgot my gloves in the truck," Bella murmured doing an about face to go and get them.

He stopped her. "I'll do it since I have better balance on the ice than you do. And I think I'm going to leave my copy of Macbeth in the truck anyway since I don't need it and don't want to even think about it." Nothing topped Flitwick's musical rendition of it and nothing ever would. For the most part, it was very boring and it wouldn't kill him to not have it in class, especially since he'd already read it before!

Harry hadn't even gotten Bella's door open, as he was too lazy to walk around his own side to deposit the book on his seat, when loud screeching sounded from nearby. Like tyres on the street kind of screeching.

He whipped around to see Bella frozen in place as a large, black van driven by one Tyler Crowley, spiraled on the black ice toward the bumper of her truck where she was stood. Without hesitation, he threw his arms out and yelled, " _ **Accio Bella!**_ "

Bella's entire body lifted off the ground, sailing in his direction seconds before the back half of the van made contact. He noticed several things at once. Bella weighed more than he thought since she hit him at an odd angle and knocked him right off his feet. Her truck was a monster since the van's back half practically curled around it, doing no damage at all to the truck itself, and Edward Cullen was practically laying on top of them a second later, giving Harry a very nice view of him up close for the first time.

He looked so much like Cedric that it kind of hurt, honestly.

But the danger wasn't over yet, because they found themselves rolled over, directly under the truck to avoid the rest of the crash. That was what basically confirmed that Edward was a vampire. Nothing else would make sense in the long run.

He was beautiful of course. And looked so much like Cedric, but without the dirty blond hair, grey eyes, and far less muscle tone. But beauty and being cold in a cold place didn't mean one was a vampire. Other things had to come into play. Like how he'd gotten over to them in the blink of an eye and how his foot was extended, planted firmly into the side of the van and leaving a very obvious dent in the passenger door. How his eyes could apparently shift between black(hunger) and gold(animal diet) in so little time.

And then Harry was made aware of the throbbing in his skull where it had impacted with the hard ground. Bella gave a groan of understanding, her face twisted up in a wince.

"Bella, Harry, are you both okay?" Edward asked, voice more angelic and nothing like Cedric's. Nothing beyond the standard American sounding accent either.

A high-pitched sound came out of Harry's mouth, though he couldn't quite describe it. Bella's was more of a grunt.

"I'm certain you hit your heads on the ground. You probably shouldn't move."

"But I'm cold!" Bella moaned, trying to roll over to no avail. They were squished under the truck. Edward was on top of them and his granite-like body had them pinned pretty good since there was no space above him. The cab wasn't that high and they were blocked in on both sides. And yes, the ground was cold, and Edward himself was also cold, so it wasn't a pleasant mix.

Edward shook his head at them, topaz eyes almost glittering with obvious amusement.

The present came back to them then, and Harry was made aware of the screams. Students were calling his and Bella's names. Someone was calling an ambulance. Another person was screaming for a few teachers.

"Get Tyler out of the van!" an unfamiliar voice yelled in a panic.

"Well… _this_ wasn't how I thought today would go," Harry murmured into Bella's hair. They were both kind of on their backs but twisted enough to the side because of how she'd landed in his arms. Her hair smelled like strawberries and was a nice contrast to the scent of metal coming from the truck.

And in the middle of all the drama, was when Bella just _had_ to ask the one question Harry didn't want to deal with.

"How did I end up flying into your arms, Harry?"

He tried for some levity. "I'm irresistible."

She cut him an unamused look and then aimed her glare at Edward. "And how did _you_ get over to us when you were literally on the other side of the lot? I would know, I was trying and failing to be subtle while staring at your face through my hair, and saw your sister pat your head condescendingly and you glare at her for some reason. And Alice is not over here right now, so what the fuck?"

Edward's countenance tightened and all friendliness melted away. "Leave it alone, Bella," he said tightly.

Harry snickered. "He doesn't want you to know that he fancies yo-"

A freezing hand pressed down on his mouth, stopping him from speaking clearly. There was enough pressure to muffle him but not enough to harm him at all or make it hard to breathe.

"Kinky," he managed to mumble, earning a wide-eyed look. If vampires could blush he was certain Edward's cheeks would be lit up, and for some reason that knowledge tickled him!

"Bella! Harry!" the frantic students continued to wail in the not so far distance. "Are you okay?!"

The next few minutes were spent with them in tense silence, Harry being forced to stay quiet and Bella glaring at both of them, her brown eyes demanding answers that wouldn't be coming any time soon.

Eventually they could crawl out once the van was pushed away. Bella parking against a wall was not the best choice it seemed. But the truck was perfectly fine in the long run and only one light in the back had suffered in the crash.

There was an ambulance awaiting them and Edward, the traitor that he was, said they'd hit their heads and could possibly be concussed. Meaning anything they said in accusation would be written off immediately as mad ramblings. Smart move on his part, Harry had to admit. But Bella was a very determined young woman and she would not be deterred for long, Harry could tell.

He looked upon the ambulance with dawning horror. He was going to the hospital. Never did like them much, and ever since the battle, he liked them even less now.

* * *

Edward stood out of the way, listening closely to the thoughts of the EMTs in case something especially concerning popped up. He steadily ignored Rosalie's rambling thoughts and Jasper's concerns over what this could mean. Alice was excited for reasons she refused to share mentally and Emmett was just worried about what this meant for the family as a whole.

But it wasn't as if Edward could just let Bella die! And not _just_ because her blood being spilled would have sent both him _and_ Jasper into a rage.

"I really don't want to go to the hospital," Harry insisted even as a neck brace was wrapped around his throat. His words were echoed by Bella, but she was far less frantic about her distaste. Bella seemed more annoyed and embarrassed while Harry looked borderline panicked.

They were shuffled onto a gurney. There was only one but both were so slight in frame that they fit on it easily. Bella wrapped a hand around Harry's and asked too low for any other human to hear, "Is there something wrong with hospitals for you?"

His stare was almost dead while it was aimed at the sky, and his voice was a low monotone filled with grief as he said, "The last time I was in the hospital mere months ago, I was surrounded by dead or dying children. I don't like hospitals."

The whole situation surrounding Harry Potter was so confusing for Edward. He'd already killed at age seventeen, and had seen the deaths of others. He'd been abused and neglected at the very least from what he'd gleaned by listening to he and Bella speak at a distance. And he was once a part of a cult. It was all very confusing.

Edward followed the ambulance to the hospital, finding himself concerned for the boy who intrigued him and the girl who annoyed and yet amused him.

* * *

Bella thought she'd take the trip to the hospital the worst, but it turned out that Harry hated them even more than her, and for reasons that made hers feel childish. Harry had actual traumatic experiences in a hospital, while Bella just hated getting special attention from people and didn't like worrying others unnecessarily.

This was what made her refrain from voicing her displeasure over and over like she had initially wanted to. Harry was silently bearing it so she would as well. He never let go of her hand either, and squeezed it every now and then.

The emergency room was their destination and they got separated for their x-rays despite insisting that they were fine. Half an hour later, they were proven right.

And getting the news came the same time Tyler Crowley was wheeled in on his own gurney, his head wrapped up severely. _He'd_ actually been hurt the most, yet Bella and Harry got the most fussing from everyone?

And then Charlie showed up and began being a worried dad on both Bella _and_ Harry while making certain to sternly tell Tyler that he was going to get to the bottom of what happened and if he was in the wrong, he could say goodbye to his license. It was all very embarrassing and dramatic.

Edward Cullen waltzed in not too long after Charlie was called out by a nurse, seating himself on Harry's bed and giving them all a small smile like he had some special secret and was considering whether or not he should share it.

"You were under there with us so why the bloody hell aren't _you_ in the same predicament?" Harry demanded before Bella could say anything, but of course they were both wondering the same thing. It was like their minds were connected or something.

The impossibly beautiful teen aimed a charming, angelic smile Harry's way, that made Bella's stomach flutter and also really annoyed her at the same time. "It's all about who you know. But don't worry, I have it on good authority that you both won't be here for much longer."

And that was when a god walked into the room.

While some would say Bella had to be exaggerating, she wasn't. The incredibly attractive blond that walked in was more handsome than even Edward, if it was possible. He just kind of _glowed_ like a real angel. Like a divine being. He made every air-brushed actor and Instagram model look dull in comparison.

He had to be Dr. Cullen because the similarities were too stark.

And she took momentary notice of how their skin was the same and they had the same dark circles under their eyes which were both goldish despite them not being related by blood at all! Strange. Just like Edward moving so fast across the parking lot and his foot leaving a dent in Tyler's van!

She noticed things! Things that weren't normal! And she wanted answers! And his lack of interest in giving them made her all the more curious!

"So," began Dr. Cullen with a ridiculously appealing voice and smile that could light up a whole town and yes, she just used a Taylor Swift reference, "How are you doing, Ms. Swan? Mr. Potter?"

"Fine," both answered together.

He checked over their x-rays and asked after their heads since Edward apparently narked about them hitting the ground a bit too hard!

"It's fine," said Bella while Harry just shrugged and looked away. That got the doctor's attention though, and he checked Harry over first, easily noting all the times Harry winced, which was often.

Bella, while still wanting answers, felt bad for her friend and hoped this wouldn't cause problems. Especially with his aversion to hospitals in general.

* * *

Carlisle Cullen didn't think he'd actually meet the town's newest residents any time soon. Nor at the same time. He could practically feel Edward's anxiety over both of them ending up in the ER, plus how they got there in the first place. His son had a minor obsession with both and he hadn't even met one of them properly.

Alice had said everything would be fine though, so they had all put their faith in her visions.

They'd already shared some words outside the door to the room and Carisle has made certain to tell his son that he was proud of Edward's desire to protect people, even if his siblings weren't as understanding of the fact that he'd most likely exposed them to an extent. But he'd been doing his best because he wanted to make Carlisle proud, so how could he _not_ be proud of Edward?

His son sent him a grateful smile after hearing his thoughts.

He approached Harry Potter first, since the boy looked more tired than Bella Swan did and that was concerning. His head was warmer than an acceptable, human temperature. He might have a fever for a few hours in response to the stress this whole ordeal had put him under.

"Your head will most likely hurt for several days, but you don't have any breaks, fractures, lacerations, or contusions to worry about. Your medical history is surprisingly empty though." He'd gone through what they'd been given and it had been very empty. Worryingly empty in fact. He'd heard that the boy was emancipated, but he had doubts over whether that was a good decision or not.

"Eh," Harry huffed with a shrug of the shoulder, "my relatives did the bare minimum since they only took me in under threat. I saw a doctor once when I was in primary school for all the things you typically have to get done in primary. And then my secondary school had a year-round doctor of sorts because it was a boarding school. Unfortunately it was the victim of a domestic terrorist bombing a few months ago and half the castle is gone, including the Hospital Wing and all student files held inside. They didn't trust electronics, so everything was manually recorded in ink. I filled out what I could understand on the paperwork but my history is pretty empty now and I don't remember where a lot of my scars come from beyond ' _terrorist attacks_ '. Sorry."

Carlisle sent him a reassuring smile even though inside he was reeling over that little tidbit of information and how calm the boy was over discussing it. He held up his clipboard, looking it over. "If I may just ask you to do a few things for me?"

"Go for it."

"How's your vision?"

"Shite."

" _Harry_!" Bella hissed.

"What? It is!" the teen said, a flush working its way over his face. "I'm wearing glasses to rectify that issue!"

"He meant as in, are you seeing doubles or weird lines or an abundance of sparkles to determine if you have any nerve issues."

"Oh. Well, no then."

"Can you squeeze my hand as hard as you can?" Carlisle offered his hand palm up for testing.

The boy demonstrated no issues in his grip or his strength. Motor functions were fine. He had a decent amount of strength for someone so small and human too.

"And finally, please stand and walk a straight line to the door and back."

The line was near perfect for a human, which was good. His assessment was that Harry was fine.

"Would you like a prescription for pain medication or would you prefer to just take acetaminophen?"

Harry waved off his concern with a tired smile. "I'll be fine, doc, don't worry. I have a high threshold for pain and this is _nothing_ compared to some of the things I've been through. You should check Bella now so Chief Swan doesn't go mad with worry."

And he did so, still reeling over the newest revelations about the boy.

Both ended up being fine and both were incredibly desperate to get out of the hospital. Tyler Crowley wasn't quite so fortunate as them however. He had actually broken skin during his part of the crash.

"Thanks, Dr. Cullen!" said Harry as they left the ER.

"Please try not to come back too soon!" he called after them, hearing Bella groan in embarrassment and Harry snicker.

Edward sent him a nod of appreciation and followed his future friends out.

It didn't need to be said aloud, that Carlisle was a proud father.

* * *

Edward wasn't sure what to do at this point, but he could tell that Bella had numerous questions and he wanted to get away before she had the chance to even ask them. He wasn't sure of what to tell her.

"Well," began Harry, "today has been something else. Bella nearly got hit by a van, a man I've never met laid on top of me after being far away seconds prior, and I got felt up by a hot doctor."

Bella snorted. "I nearly got hit by a van, somehow found my entire body leaving the ground to fly right into your arms from several feet away, got laid on by a guy who crossed the parking lot in a second and left a large dent in said van with his foot, and got felt up by a hot doctor."

Both turned to stare at him expectantly, and Edward groaned internally. Both of them were aware of what had happened and had seen the same thing essentially. If it had been one person, making them doubt their own senses would be easy, but with both, they could commiserate and then compare their notes on the situation.

"I had an adrenaline rush," Edward decided. "They're pretty common when in perilous situations. You can do a Google search for more info."

Harry snorted while Bella's face turned livid. Neither believed him, obviously, but that wasn't the point. No one would believe them if they tried to say something about it.

Whatever else Bella was planning to say was cut off by Harry touching her arm. "He's not going to talk, Bella."

"And _you_?" she demanded, tone frosty. "With the ' _ackyo_ ' or whatever word you yelled before I went flying into your arms?"

He fluttered his impossibly long lashes at her and said, "I panicked and said the first thing that came to mind." Though while he was saying it, his eyes went very wide for a split second, and then his face morphed into one of total innocence.

Charlie Swan stopped any further conversation as he came over to them, looking worried. "Are you both alright?"

Bella sighed quietly before turning to him and nodding. "Yeah, dad. Harry and I were just thanking Edward for helping us not get squished by the van." Harry backed her up with his insistent nodding, and Charlie aimed a grateful smile Edward's way.

"I'm taking you both home. I'll be dropping you off tomorrow too since the truck is still there. The school was understanding of the situation and won't make you make up your work missed today."

"We can't go back to school?" asked Bella, looking horrified.

"I wouldn't feel comfortable with either of you doing all of that after what happened this morning." _They need rest!_ the man's mind shouted.

Bella was led away by both Charlie and Harry, and Edward felt the urge to sigh in relief. Though now what was going to happen? He doubted Bella would just let it go as it is. And he didn't know Harry well enough to know what he'd do about it.

But he couldn't let Bella just die.

Though… considering how she had flown into Harry's arms milliseconds before Edward arrived, Edward was certain she wouldn't have died. It seemed that they all had secrets and despite knowing how dangerous it was to involve humans in supernatural matters, he couldn't help but be curious.

* * *

Harry sighed as he went through his trunk, looking for his photo album. Since he knew that Bella had seen everything today and that she was unlikely to let anything go without having answers, he finally made the decision to let her in on the magical world.

Luna had assured him she'd understand.

It wasn't as if anyone from MACUSA would find out or anything. Harry's house had been registered with the American Congress. And he learned that the Congress couldn't actually tell if he performed magic in front of a muggle or not if it wasn't done with a magical focus. Still, he'd keep the wand behind the wards of his home unless he needed to act elsewhere.

Bella was at the door minutes later. She'd been putting on a pork roast which would take a few hours to cook. In that time frame, he would hopefully have explained everything relevant by then.

He plopped the photo album onto her lap once she was sat on his sofa. "Look through that first, and then I'll answer your questions."

Her eyes got progressively wider the further she went. The photos were all moving of course, as magical photos were wont to do. Some had people on flying broomsticks, other showed Hogwarts in the background. People were running in and out of frames.

When she eventually looked up, he gestured to the walls of his house, where the once stationary portraits began moving, looking down at her with interest and offering greetings.

"Harry, what the hell is all of this?"

He shrugged. "You wanted to know just why you flew into my arms today. And that's the answer. Magic."

To further prove his point, a tray bearing all the essentials for a good spot of tea floated in from the kitchen and settled on the table between them. The pot began to pour hot water into the cups on its own, and Harry smiled. "Would you like to have some biscuits with your tea?"

* * *

**~.O.~**

* * *

**A/N: The first is done!**

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CHECK OUT MY OTHER HP FICS! ^-^


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Harry is a good - but also very embarrassing - friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TAGS: Drama, Innuendo, and Mild Language.
> 
> -Glad y'all like this!

**A/N: Hello, people!**

**I don't own Harry Potter or Twilight.**

**I have no beta.**

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* * *

**~.O.~**

* * *

Magic existed. Magic was real. So many questions came to mind. So many pieces of fictions she'd absorbed at some point that she now wondered at the validity of.

"So… what are you?" she asked, trying to piece together what she knew about him.

"A wizard." Wizard. Magic. Wand-waving and spells and potions and flying on broomsticks and different religious beliefs.

"And when you said that back home they're a pagan community…?"

"I wasn't lying. Typically, the European Wixen World seems to put their faith in the Greek Pantheon or Norse Mythology. The Asian Wixen World has their own mythology they believe in. The American Wixen World tends to lean into the beliefs of the indigenous peoples who inhabited this land first. The Middle Eastern Wixen World is the most obscure to us still, but they take their beliefs as seriously. And I mean wix in general take things _very_ seriously. There are blood and sacrificial rituals on important holidays. And sometimes weird chants people have to do. _'So mote it be'_ is a favored phrase among the lot of European wix."

Okay. So he literally had meant a cult when he was describing what had happened back in Britain. That part had not been an exaggeration. "And… are magical people only from Britain? Like, you know how the British conquered the whole world, did everyone come from there?"

Harry laughed and shook his head. "No, they're naturally from everywhere because magic is everywhere. Not as large in numbers of course. If we just count wix, which is the term used when referencing witches and wizards at once, then there would be eight billion humans living on Earth instead of seven billion."

Damn.

"If we included all magical beings that _look_ humanoid and could pass for humans easily into that number, we'd reach ten billion humanoid inhabitants entirely."

Holy shit.

"You know, I think you'll need this," said Harry, waving his hand and saying, "Accio, _**Fantastic Beings and Where to Find Them**_! Accio, _**Fantastic Beings and Where to Find Them**_!"

Two massive books, wider than her own body came sailing down the stairs and landed in Harry's hands. He looked like he had no trouble holding them up.

"That's the word you said today!" she realized, recognizing the sound he'd made. "The one that took me off my feet and had me flying into your arms!"

"Summoning Charm," he clarified, handing over the books which were oddly light and made of some kind of leathery material. "Those are about the currently known magical creatures under **Beast** and **Being** status according to the International Confederation of Wizards."

Confederation… they had a government structure of their own if they managed to have a confederation.

She took a deep breath to calm herself down. "There's a lot to learn, isn't there?"

"Yeah, but you won't need to know everything. I'll teach you what I know in broad terms. As I'm currently avoiding the magical side right now because I deserve a break after all the shit I've been through, even I don't know everything. I'm just a teen. By their standards I'm an adult though. Seventeen is when you reach your magical majority and it usually comes with a power boost at midnight on your seventeenth birthday and full access to your inheritance if you have one."

Harry was a wizard. And he could do magic. And he was part of a hidden community of people who could do magic too and where magical creatures existed.

"Are dragons real?"

"Yes! I have a pygmy one! I'll be right back!"

He rushed up the stairs, leaving her to flip through the first book page by page. It was in alphabetical order and each page had a colored sketch of the creature in question, plus a description of them and their habits.

Abraxans were real. And huge if the average height and weight recorded were true. Bigger than normal horses could be.

Moments later, Harry returned, depositing a small, winged lizard with a spiky tail on her lap. "That is a pygmy Hungarian Horntail. I got it when I was fourteen. It can breathe fire but the flames are small. Still, they can cause pain so be careful."

It was a dragon. A real, dragon. It gave a gurgling purr when she scratched under its chin.

"That's considered the fiercest and nastiest of the breeds. The barbs and spines are dangerous and the real one can grow to have a body larger than this house."

"Okay," she said, taking another deep breath. "Is there anything else I need to know immediately?"

Harry smiled. "I think the Cullens are vampires."

Of course they were. The unnatural beauty they all seemed to have made sense that way. And how cold both Edward and Carlisle were made sense if there was no blood circulation. And how they all looked alike when they weren't all blood related.

She had a lot to learn it seemed, but she could take it.

Time was all she needed.

* * *

The whole week following the accident, things had been a little hectic. Bella's fanclub seemed to be even more insistent with their interest after she nearly got squished by a van in front of their eyes. Mike, Eric, and Tyler were now the most obvious people in vying for her attention, and she was aware of it but passed it off as ' _shiny new toy syndrome_ ' or something.

When Harry asked her to elaborate, she shrugged and said, "I'm new. They've all grown up with the girls here and watched them go through puberty. They don't know me from Eve, so they know next to nothing about me. The novelty will wear off eventually as I'm pretty boring as a person and not worth all this attention they keep shoving my way."

" _I_ don't think you're boring."

She sent him a small smile, though it was obvious she didn't believe him. "You're my best friend so you're biased."

Being declared someone's best friend was a nice feeling and put Harry's mood all the way into the clouds. It had been a while since he'd made a true friend. One who wasn't jealous of him in some way be it academically or financially or what have you. Luna was probably the last one and that was in his Fifth Year.

Like, Bella liked magic and thought it was cool and had so many scientific questions, but she didn't sit there bemoaning the fact that she was a no-maj/muggle. And she didn't ask for anything either. She merely read the books he offered, asked questions when she didn't understand something, and verified for her own sanity, that the Cullens were in fact vampires and she wasn't imagining how odd they were compared to everyone else. Her reaction to the Vampire Types had been hilarious!

It had been a taxing week for her as she'd been bombarded with new information so soon.

She got used to the new knowledge she had after another week passed, and was no longer obsessively preoccupied by Edward Cullen's fine self. Life continued on as it was and nothing seemed to be any different.

She and Harry were even planning a trip in their free time. More like she decided she wanted to see a bookstore that was useful and asked him to come to Seattle with her.

He'd agreed out of boredom and wonder at what the city was like, the date set.

"There's a Sadie Hawkins dance coming up," Bella hissed the moment they reached the cafeteria on Tuesday.

"A what?"

"That Spring Fling thing," she clarified. "It's one of those girls do the asking type of dances, AKA, Sadie Hawkins. Jessica wants to ask Mike, she called me about it last night."

"And why did she have to call you about it?" Was it a girl thing he just wasn't aware of?

"She thought I wanted to ask him and wanted to make sure I was okay with her taking the plunge," Bella confided lowly. "I told her to go for it. With gusto. All the gusto hopefully."

Harry's snort echoed through the cafeteria, attracting too much attention for either of their preferences. He waved everyone's attention away and leaned in closer as they stood in line, so no one would hear him say, "Last time I checked, you weren't into puppies."

Bella smacked his arm playfully and rolled her eyes. "Apparently he _and_ she haven't noticed that though. And she's been in a sour mood all day and Mike's been quiet and I just know what it means and I'm not ready for it! It's gonna happen and I just want to crawl under a rock and die so I can avoid it!"

They both got fizzy drinks and a block of pizza that could probably knock someone out if thrown hard enough, and went to join the group they'd assimilated into. And truth be told, Mike and Jessica were indeed off the moment they sat down.

"Good luck," Harry murmured to his friend. He then asked, "Can you explain to me why there's a dance so soon when prom is like a month away?"

She shrugged. "No clue. It makes no sense to me but maybe I'm just not up on these things like other teens are."

After that, Harry went on to Government, where he was asked by three girls he didn't know, to go to the dance. He cited his and Bella's plans for Seattle and apologised to them with a smile. "I just don't like dances." He was only going to prom because he wanted to win Spirit Week! "I wouldn't be much of a companion if I went to one."

When the duo met up in Gym, Bella's entire face was red in a mix of anger, embarrassment, and probably a bit of humiliation.

"What did Cullen do?" And did Harry need to commit murder? Because he would commit murder if it meant protecting his friend.

"Not just him. Mike _had_ to ask me out right before class even began. Edward was listening in since Mike planted his ass on our table and wouldn't move! He said he told Jessica he'd have to think about her offer to the dance and the reason he said it was because he wanted _me_ to ask him to go. And Edward was sitting there all broody and shit when he wasn't even the one being bothered!"

Yeah, that was pretty much what they'd expected. And Bella got so annoyed that she swore! He fought the urge to giggle.

"And then Edward and I got into an argument in the hall and then I dropped my books and he annoys me so much, that- that- _Errruuuuuuuugh!_ "

She'd almost called him a vampire, but caught herself in time. The whole, Supernatural Senses thing had been drilled into her head very quickly above all else. She'd asked if they could hear her stomach growling and smell her menstrual cycle, to which Harry replied that it was very likely. The mortification from that revelation had lasted three whole days.

Even if there were no Cullens in their Gym class, the chances of them hearing her call them vampires were high, no matter where they were on the campus. It was a good thing she'd caught herself in time.

"Have _you_ been asked out?" Bella asked as she hovered somewhat behind him while Coach Clapp began divvying up teams for basketball. She was obviously trying to get the attention off of herself so maybe she'd get forgotten and not have to play. Since they were the same height, she wasn't getting away in the least.

"Many times. I keep bringing up the Seattle trip to dissuade them. You should do it too," he told her. "It'd make things a lot less awkward if you want to let your many admirers down easy."

Basketball was an interesting game. Harry had to be taught the basics before they could even get into a game, but it had been fascinating. Harry had learned to be a fast runner growing up if he didn't want to get caught during his cousin's gang's game of Harry Hunting. It usually ended up badly for him, so he quickly got better than them and then outran them every time they tried to mess with him by the time they were nine.

Bella on the other hand… she just wasn't a sporty person, would be his diplomatic explanation.

She fell a lot. He felt bad for her knees and elbows and considered getting her some protective gear so she'd hurt herself a lot less.

"I need hot chocolate and then sleep," she grumbled on their way to their respective Locker Rooms.

Well, the school day had practically ended so nothing else could happen, right?

* * *

Edward was leaning against his Volvo, contemplating what his ' _life_ ' had become in recent weeks. Alice had warned everyone else to take their time and that they couldn't leave the school building until at least 2:59 and no sooner. It had been explained with grave insistence and everyone had reluctantly followed along.

He hadn't known what she'd meant by her words since she was busy mentally quoting Nietzsche in Japanese. Only Alice would go to such lengths to protect her thoughts from him.

As he waited, he saw Eric Yorkie stop by Bella's truck. The teen decided to lean on it, his thoughts a jumble of nervous questions and an attempt to discern just how he should ask Bella to the Spring Fling. And distantly, the thoughts of Tyler Crowley came into focus as well, just a few cars down, since he was thinking the same thing and needed an opening where neither Mike nor Eric were around to ruin ' _his game_ '.

Now he knew why Alice said everyone else had to wait! The arrogance of youth clashing with Bella's awkward nature and introverted personality was going to be the best!

He could hear the humans who captivated his attention so much lately, the moment they left the school. Bella and Harry were in deep conversation about… treacle tart?

"All I'm saying is that it's one of the best sweets in this world. Butterbeer is also among the list of course," Harry murmured. "I could imbibe nine bottles of that without stopping and feel no side effects."

"What's Butterbeer?" asked Bella, voicing one of Edward's own questions.

"A drink that's good either warm or cold and has a light butterscotch flavor. Also 7% alcohol content from what I recall."

"And they _let_ you drink that as a minor?!" She sounded appalled. "You can drink nine without getting hammered?"

"Britain doesn't really have a drinking age. There's an age to when you're allowed to buy alcohol but not one for consuming it on the normal side. So you just hand some money to an older individual, enough for both of you to have something, and life's good. I have some Butterbeer at home. And some of Ogden's Finest Firewhiskey if you're interested. It might make you cough up a ball of flame though so you'd probably need cold water with it."

"How did you get all of that through customs?" Bella asked quietly, sounding tired but not surprised in the least.

Honestly, if Edward could read either of their minds, he'd have more answers and wouldn't feel so left out! It wasn't normal for Edward to be left out of anything! He wanted answers but didn't know how to go about getting them!

"Magic," was the Brit's teasing response.

The young woman groaned.

Finally, the two rounded the corner so Edward could see them in full. Bella halted, a look of horror passing over her face as she held an arm out to stop Harry with her before dragging him back behind the wall as she made some odd, dying frog kind of croak while drawing out the word, " _Noooooooo_!"

And then she peeked around the corner and went, "Oh wait! _Oh_! Oh, okay!" She sighed deeply and shook her head, looking relieved all of a sudden.

"What?" Harry asked, leaning around her to stare at her truck too. He then smirked. "Did you think that was who I'm thinking of?"

"Shut up! Thankfully it's just Eric. Leaning on my truck. Waiting for us. Oh no!" she groaned. "End the misery _nooooow_! Can you just take away my memories of this day in a non-traumatic way?"

"Nope! Let's go face the music!" Harry said cheerfully, dragging her around the corner, a wide smile full of knowing on his handsome face.

" _Noooooooooooo_ ," she hissed before her entire demeanor did a 180, aiming a kind smile at the teen awaiting them at her truck. "Hey, Eric!" Her ability to flash through different emotions so quickly was impressive. And her acting was pretty decent as well.

What followed was the most awkward attempt at asking someone out, that Edward had heard that day. And poor Bella just wasn't up for it. Her patience had obviously reached max tolerance by now. What a shame. She still managed to be kind about her refusal though.

"I think you broke his heart," said Harry, which earned a not so quiet laugh from Edward, who was parked just a couple cars down.

The flaming color that appeared on Bella's cheeks, and the glare she aimed his way made his day so much better! For some reason he just really got a kick out of her being angry with him!

_There's my chance!_ he heard Tyler Crowley say to himself.

Edward was in the Volvo and had pulled out quickly before putting the car in Park just in time to prevent Bella from going anywhere once she pulled out as well. And Tyler, in his newly rented car, was right behind her in the long line that began to form. It was the perfect opportunity!

_Thank God Cullen has to wait for the fam!_

He was getting out of the car!

This was better than any entertainment Edward had gotten in years!

Harry, who was listening to Taylor Swift's third album on his phone, merely leaned back in his seat so Tyler could ask Bella out through the passenger side window. He looked amused from what Edward could see in his rear-view mirror, even though music was blasting in his ears.

Bella's limit of patience had been reached it seemed. She'd lacked any kindness when she refused him. Tyler wasn't fazed in the least.

Though this trip to Seattle was interesting to learn about. What would she and Harry be doing there all day? And would it truly be safe for them when there were... _other_ vampires who were far less tame, roaming the Pacific Northwest?

Tyler's declaration of wanting to ask Bella to prom was the icing on the cake! Just in time for the rest of Edward's siblings to reach the car and get in. Bella's aggravation was so high that she almost read-ended him while he was laughing at her expense!

"See?" Alice said jovially. "I knew you wouldn't want to miss it!"

As always, she was right. It was nice to laugh again.

* * *

"Since neither of us have been to Seattle, we should totally make a day of it," said Harry that evening. He was sitting cross-legged on Bella's purple bedspread, looking at Seattle-related happenings on his laptop, which he'd brought with him.

Charlie, who had gotten home an hour ago, had given them a very telling look at dinner. It wasn't hard to determine that he thought Bella and Harry were an item and that he thought they'd be up to… _stuff_ while in her room together. He didn't say anything, but it was all in his face.

Harry wasn't sure if he should tell the man he had no interest in Bella that way. Yet. Anything could happen so it wasn't like he'd just assume he and Bella couldn't become a couple at some point in the future, but for now, she was a good friend. And honestly, he needed friendship first.

Between them, on the bed, was Scattergories. They'd been playing nonstop rounds for over an hour before they decided to finalise their plans for skipping out on the dance and avoiding the numerous amount of stalkers seeking their hands.

The last round had been with the letter M.

> **-Things that go well with chocolate:** Marshmallows
> 
> **-Things in a mystery novel:** Murderers
> 
> **-Websites:** -
> 
> **-Loud things:** Mice
> 
> **-Things you eat with a spoon:** Mountain High Mudd Pie
> 
> **-Famous sayings:** Make me
> 
> **-Underground things:** Moles
> 
> **-Things in the wild west:** Money bags
> 
> **-Things in an airport:** Morons
> 
> **-Words with double letters:** Mollycoddling
> 
> **-Found in New York City:** MACUSA Headquarters
> 
> **-Things in Fairy Tales:** Manticores

He'd won by a point. It was a great victory.

Bella looked up from her own laptop to see what he was pointing at.

It was a page on the best attractions of the city and seemed to be the most promising thing to help them plan.

"Sounds cool. That's supposed to be a good library too."

He was excited! Actually exploring somewhere new without having to fear that he'd be followed by someone who recognised his face! Trying new things! On his own time! "And we can check out some craft shops because I need a few things for the costumes I'm making for Spirit Week!"

She sent him a dubious look and asked, "You're _really_ serious about that,?"

"Yeah. I need those good grades in my poor classes! Also, dressing up is really fun and getting to do it without being looked at like a creep is even better! I can totally acquire costumes for you too! I know where to get some stays if you'd like!"

In the end, Bella chose to not participate in Spirit Week, which was sad, but he wouldn't force her or anything.

Though that didn't mean he wouldn't try to get her interested in it!

* * *

School the next morning was as usual. It was wet outside and the truck was freezing cold when they got in but burning hot when they arrived. Bella looked frustrated already, remembering the previous day and how everything had gone.

"Mike _did_ tell Jessica yes though, so all's fine now," he reminded her. No more asking her out and making conversation bloody awkward at least.

"Yeah, but now I'm going to be reminded of that awkward conversation every time I see him or Jessica from now on."

Oh well! Such as life.

One moment the space beside Bella was absent once she got out of the truck, the next, Edward Cullen was there in time to catch her keys as they fell from her hand. Harry had literally watched it happen and everything. He was really doing very poorly to hide what he was, it seemed. Or he forgot that they were in public. Or just assumed all humans were oblivious and that no one would notice him since they hadn't noticed him move during the car accident.

"How do you _do_ that?" Bella demanded, looking annoyed but regretfully grateful as she accepted her keys back. She stuffed them in her coat pocket immediately so she wouldn't lose them again.

"Do what?" Was he _flirting_ with Bella? Merlin! Only Bella would attract so many boys without trying.

When could that start happening for Harry? He would love to have men falling all over him. Where was the fairness? He swung for two teams, dammit! That should make it twice as easy to get a _good_ date!

"Know just when to appear out of thin air," Bella said in response to Edward's question.

Harry slid around the front of the truck to join them, a smirk on his face. "Perhaps he's got extra sensory perception and has been stalking you nonstop to know when you need help."

Bella flushed and sent him a glare practically screaming that he wasn't helping the situation at all, while Edward stiffened just a bit. Just enough for Harry to notice. Was he _really_ watching Bella that much? Was he really paying that much attention to a human?

Damn. He had it bad.

In his shock, Harry managed to have his first ever real embarrassing moment since coming to Forks. His left foot slid in a puddle and he went flying back, only for a tall, handsome fellow with frigid skin to catch him around the waist like it was nothing. It was all very romantic and not at _all_ as embarrassing as he said it was. Nope. Nada.

"Oh, Mr. Cullen, you need to buy me dinner before we even consider taking such actions!" he teased, feeling slightly overwhelmed in the presence of the Cedric-look-alike and trying to mask it quickly.

And, unlike many straight men that Harry had met in his lifetime, Edward did not suddenly wrench himself away from Harry nor did he look disgusted by Harry's joke. He merely returned Harry's smirk of amusement and said, "Oh, is that all, Mr. Potter? Or is that simply for _my_ benefit?"

He was set on his feet with ease and Harry tipped his head in gratitude. "So what'd you need that involved giving poor Bella an aneurysm?"

"Well… you know the Spring Dance is a week from this Saturday an-"

"Are you _fucking_ serious?" Bella demanded, looking livid and mortified at the same time. Her face had turned a morbid shade of red in the process and her hands were digging into the hem of her coat.

Harry patted her shoulder. "Let him speak. He came all the way across the car park for it. At least hear him out in return for his bravery."

She glared at them both, not believing their innocent smiles for a second.

"Yes, _Bella_ ," Edward said, gold eyes twinkling with wicked amusement, "please let me finish."

The breath she took was a long one, but she waited patiently. Even folded her hands behind her back to calm down for good measure. Or to prevent herself from trying to claw his face off in aggravation. Either reason would work.

"I heard you both are going to Seattle and wanted to know if you want a ride."

Harry's brows shot up since _that_ was unexpected.

"What?"

"Do you want a ride to Seattle?" Edward repeated, sending Bella a pitying look.

"With who?" she asked, still not on the train of thought.

"Myself, obviously," the vampire said carefully, giving her this look of concern.

Harry was already nodding for them both before she could say anything more. He kind of liked the idea of going with the both of them. And getting dirt on Edward would be useful. No way would the vampire be able to avoid talking about himself during a day-long outing. "That'd be cool. We could see the sights, eat dinner somewhere nice, the whole shebang. Wouldn't be my first threesome."

The silence between them was deafening, and then Bella turned and laid her head on the bonnet of her truck so they couldn't see her red face at all. "Harry, _whyyyyyyy_?!"

Even Edward seemed a little flustered by how brazen he'd been, but he couldn't help it! "That's how the first one went! How else am I supposed to take this from a man who's been nothing but short with us and rude, and is now acting all friendly without any obvious reason to?"

With that out there, Edward even looked a little ashamed of himself and quickly said, "That isn't what I'm aiming for, I promise you." And Harry believed him because Edward's whole person screamed ' _blushing, repressed virgin_ '. "I said that it would be better if we weren't friends, not that I didn't want to be friends at all, Bella."

Bella looked up just enough for her to catch Harry's eyes. They shared a look of understanding between them because they both knew Edward had a point.

He was a vampire and they were humans. Technically it would be very unsafe for them to be friends. _Technically_. But Edward was also on the Bunny Foo Foo diet and Harry was a wizard so the chances of anything bad happening were nil. Not that Edward knew that. So by his own merit, he was trying to protect them in his own way. Which was sweet but unnecessary.

It also scored him a considerable amount of points in Harry's book. The fact that he wanted to get to know them to some extent but didn't want to risk harming them to find out anything new.

"I've gotten tired of trying to stay away from you both," Edward went on to add. "I wish to satiate my curiosity and the best way to do that is to be near to you."

How Harry wasn't supposed to take that as a declaration of interest beyond friendship, he didn't know. But it was a decent start for what _Edward_ was thinking.

Bella finally regained her composure from Harry embarrassing her second-hand, and stood tall once more. She even looked Edward dead in his golden eyes.

"Will you allow me to escort you both to Seattle, Bella?"

Escort. Wow. He wanted to escort them. It was so totally a threesome. Harry supported polyamory and polygamy! He didn't care!

She nodded silently, and he looked pleased. "Then I'll see you both later."

They both waited until he had disappeared around the corner of the nearest building, before turning to each other with raised brows.

"What the hell just happened?" she asked rhetorically.

He waited a moment, then said, "...We got an offer for a threesome."

Bella smacked him in the arm in return.

* * *

The whole day, Bella couldn't get her mind off of Edward Cullen nor Harry's words about his intentions with the offer to drive them to Seattle. While it was obvious that Edward wasn't aiming for… sex when it came to Bella and Harry, he was aiming for something. Something difficult to understand on the surface since they didn't know him all that well yet.

By lunch, she was on edge about it, trying to get through all her weird-ass theories about what was going on in Edward's head. He was a vampire, but had said it would better for them not to be friends. He'd said it out of some misplaced self-appointed duty to protect them. But now he was ' _tired_ ' of trying to stay away?

She wanted to grill him for information!

But Edward was not at lunch when they arrived. He wasn't seated with his family and Bella didn't have any clue as to where he'd be. Why would just him be gone? It made no sense!

"Aw," Harry cooed. "Missing our third piece already?"

"Harry, I will not hesitate to leave you here while I drive home," she threatened, though there was no heat in it. She wouldn't actually leave him behind.

"I have other ways of travel, Bella, and I'm sure you're aware of now. I could get home just fine," he countered, sticking his tongue out.

Yeah. He'd probably Apparate. She'd only just read about that a few days ago and found it terribly convenient. So long as Harry had been there before, he could basically teleport there. And since he was strong enough to do it trans-internationally, he could basically travel the whole world in a day if he ever wanted/needed to.

"Oh look," Harry said with sarcasm dripping from his tone, "we have slop for lunch." Though it technically was chicken soup on the board. It just wasn't very well made chicken soup. The containers keeping the soup hot looked too old to be safe for use anymore. And the soup itself wasn't of a color that looked safe to eat.

Both shared a look of disgust and opted for just getting drinks.

"I'm addicted to this tea," he muttered, grabbing a bottle of Pure Leaf off the snack counter as she shuffled along to the register. "It's not too sweet and is the best iced tea out of all those I've tried thus far."

It was nasty in her opinion, but to each their own. She got a lemonade. Like usual.

When they sat down, Jessica leaned over the table to conspiratorially say, "Edward Cullen is staring at you."

Both of their heads snapped up and together, they looked at where she was pointing. Edward was indeed there, just seated at a completely different table compared to his siblings. On the other side of the cafeteria even and looking far too good to put into words. When he noticed he had their attention, he crooked a finger in invitation.

"Does he mean _you_?" came Jessica's baffled and slightly offensive disbelief.

Harry nodded and sent Bella a look. "He means you. You should go over there and see what he wants. Try to get some good info out of him in the process."

"Why can't he mean _you_?" she demanded, feeling a bit offended by the surety in his tone. As if Edward Cullen couldn't actually be interested in talking with Harry Potter who was kind and fascinating and handsome and nice to everyone so long as they weren't rude to him or his friends.

"Because I've barely spoken to him whereas you not only have a class with him, but have had regular conversations with him."

"But you've still spoken with him," she pointed out.

"Yeah, but he knows nothing about me. He's only been sucking the information out of you so far, so it makes sense that he'd want to talk to you."

"That doesn't mean he can't want to talk to _you_. I'm not quite so interesting." Bella could be described as a thirty-fiver year old stuck in a teen's body. In fact, her mother _had_ told her that personally and said that she got more middle-aged every year.

"It's very doubtful that _I_ am the focus of his attention," Harry said plainly, face going worryingly blank. "Straight men don't act this way toward other men because they're typically incredibly fragile in the masculinity department and think being seen as anything but the typical straight male stereotype makes them gay. Which is world-destroying to them. And said insulting belief is based upon harmful stereotypes about gay men basically being girls. Which means they're based in misogyny because being compared to a woman must of course be the _worst_ _thing_ they could possibly experience in life."

His answer blew her away for a moment as she tried to register just what he'd said while his voice got more and more mocking by the second. Jessica also looked completely baffled by the sudden turn of conversation.

While she was aware that Harry wasn't straight because he didn't really hide his interests, it had never seemed to be something he struggled with. She should have known that he would have problems being… not straight _(she didn't know what he identified as)_ because of other people and their inability to respect people's personal space and life choices.

A cold hand touching her shoulder out of the blue made her jump and whip around to find Edward standing behind she and Harry, a hand on both of their shoulders. He was a vampire. He probably heard everything Harry had just said. How mortifying. She wanted to crawl under a rock and die just to get away from her embarrassment!

"I would very much like to take lunch with _both_ of you if you don't mind," Edward said, choosing not to address Harry's words in the least.

They ended up leaving Jessica there, mouth agape as she watched them go. Her eyes promised a phone call later on though, and Bella resigned herself to the Spanish Inquisition that would follow.

She could only wonder what Edward wanted. Was this a part of him not wanting to stay away anymore? And should she be this thrilled about it? Her stomach needed to stop doing somersaults and chill out already! She had to use her brain and think clearly about this!

Edward's table wasn't in the middle of the room, thank goodness, and she and Harry didn't have a view of the rest of the room that was no doubt watching them, which made her feel a bit better.

"So…" Harry began quietly, "what do you want?"

A shrug that should have in no way looked so elegant, damn his vampireness! "I decided that if I'm going to go to hell, I might as well do it thoroughly."

What had she and Harry gotten into?

* * *

**~.O.~**

* * *

**A/N: The first is done!**

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CHECK OUT MY MANY OTHER HP FICS! ^-^


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Conversations are had. 
> 
> Check the notes!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TAGS: Mild Language, Drama, School Shooting Mentioned, Past Trauma, and Queer Themes.
> 
> -There was a school shooting in Glendale in recent years. It was a murder-suicide. The shooter and  
> victim were both 15 y/o girls. I took inspiration from that.
> 
> -I gave Bella a reason to have a fear of blood since it felt like the most random addition to Twilight  
> and didn't make much sense with her character as it was written.

**A/N: Hello, people!**

**I don't own Harry Potter or Twilight.**

**I have no beta.**

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* * *

**~.O.~**

* * *

Edward struggled not to let his displeasure over Harry's words show on his face. While he was aware that Harry was at the very least Bisexual, he'd never had a problem with it. And Edward, while having never truly considered sex with humans because their thoughts tended to put him off immediately, he wasn't a total virgin. One doesn't live a hundred years and do _nothing_.

He'd had many offers from other vampires even. Tanya from their sister coven in Denali Alaska was one such offer that he still refused because he really just didn't feel anything beyond companionship toward her. Her thoughts made him very uncomfortable too and there was no reason for him to stay uncomfortable just to make her feel better. Anyone who tried to teach otherwise was a fool.

When the two humans he was attempting to… befriend, joined him at the table, he wasn't expecting Harry to slip his earbuds in and begin listening to Queen on his iPhone. It had been so smoothly done that it took a second for Edward's advanced recognition to understand just what he'd done.

It seemed he really didn't think Edward wanted to speak with him. That hurt, strangely. Did Edward just give off a vibe of insincerity? He was trying to be nice and considerate and it seemed like he was failing miserably when it came to this human in particular. Was he only good at reading people because he could hear their thoughts? Did he need to take more college courses on Human Psychology?

Resolved, Edward leaned across the table to lightly trail a finger over Harry's left earbud, making both him and Bella flush instantly at how suggestive the action was. Especially from someone who maintained his personal space very obviously and did not encroached upon the personal space of others for his and their benefit. "It'd be nice to actually _speak_ with you, Harry," Edward said with what he hoped was a dazzling smile.

Once the earbuds were put away, and their blushing had died down enough to make their scents less potent, conversation was able to commence appropriately if a bit awkwardly.

Edward ignored the thoughts of his siblings since he wanted to focus solely on his humans and anything involving them.

"Your friends are angry with me for stealing you away," Edward noted, hoping to break the ice even as Jessica Stanley's jealous inner ramblings filled his mind. Lauren's thoughts were equally jealous but far more rude in nature. That was the biggest difference between them, Jessica was immature but not cruel.

"They'll live," Bella insisted with a nod from Harry.

"Besides, we all know they girls are jealous that you don't want to talk to them and the boys are jealous that Bella wants to talk to _you_ instead," added Harry. "We're not daft, you know."

He wasn't wrong. The mental bile being spewed their way from all angles was a bit concerning. "I realize that I never got the chance to properly introduce myself to you," Edward chose to say instead.

Harry scoffed. "You've laid on top of me and practically felt me up. We're way beyond introductions at this point."

Again, if Edward was capable of blushing, he would be. Harry just had a way with words and a lack of shame in expressing them. And yet he still had a point which was the most frustrating thing!

_Ooooh!_ Came Emmett's teasing thoughts. _You laid on him, Eddie?_

"This is different," Bella noted, fiddling with her bottle of lemonade. She had a nervous habit of sliding it back and forth between her hands while not actually looking down to watch herself.

While he _had_ been planning to tease her a bit, one of their many watchers decided to come over and harass Harry. For a terrible reason. Edward barely held back a growl of annoyance and had to stop himself from squishing his lunch tray into a plastic ball. While he could probably pass it off as hidden strength, he didn't want to have to.

"Hey, fag!"

And Harry knew that it was aimed at him before he even turned to see the boy, one Chadley Warner - who very much hated his name - coming their way. The look on his face said he was ready for combat and had already determined that he would destroy his opposition ruthlessly. It was a look that made Edward a bit hot under the collar, and made him feel slightly ashamed at the same time.

It was rude to think of Harry in such a way. He was not an object. And he was a fragile human on top of it all! He must be protected from monsters like Edward!

"I resemble neither a bundle of sticks or a lit cigarette," was Harry's calm response, a single eyebrow quirking upward at a sharp angle.

Chadley's attempts at embarrassing the only _out_ queer kid in the school, seemed to fail as he tried to make sense of Harry's words. Of course he wouldn't know any of the meanings of the word ' _faggot_ '. Barely anyone did these days.

He was still walking toward their shared table though, and Edward envisioned ripping the boy's head off in a rare moment of violence for his typical demeanor. Carlisle would be disappointed in him if he found out.

Harry tsked and murmured too low for anyone but a vampire to hear, "All tongues that rise against me shall fall." He raked his fingers through his messy locks and then jerked them oddly to the side for no reason.

And Edward wasn't imagining it when a girl who had just risen from her seat, mess of a lunch tray in hand, lost her footing on the edge of her table which had moved over three feet to put her directly in Chadley's way. The tray went flying and all of its contents landed on the bully before he could even get close enough to be a physical threat. Chocolate milk and chicken soup drenched him from head to toe and the girl, one Chastity Sinclair, knocked him to the ground in an effort to catch herself before falling.

The room was quiet for a moment, before nearly everyone burst into laughter. Chadley's thoughts took on a mortified tone and he scrambled to his feet and then ran away, abandoning his plan in the face of such embarrassment.

"Well," Harry said with a sweet smile, "how unfortunate for him and yet perfect for me. Almost like magic."

Bella sent him an intense yet unreadable look and he did nothing but smile back at her. Being unable to hear what they were thinking was torture!

"It's 2020 and people like him still walk around with such abysmally outdated thinking. 'Tis a pity."

His words got a nod of understanding from Bella, who sent a glare in the direction Chadley had run off in, before taking a sip of her lemonade.

"What are you thinking?" Edwards asked curiously, wanting to get some kind of explanation behind how secretive the two were. How they got along so well after knowing each other for only a month. How they could understand each other so easily. "What is going through your mind right now?"

"I'm thinking about how Harry is a cheeky shit."

"Well _I'm_ thinking about when we're getting on to that threeso-"

Bella slapped a hand over his mouth before he could finish what was probably the word ' _threesome_ '. Her face was bright pink but her warm, brown eyes spelled ' _murder_ '.

Emmett's thoughts entered Edward's head with a loud cackle at his expense. _IS HE SUGGESTING A THREESOME, EDDIE BOY?!_

"What if someone heard you?" Bella hissed, looking around frantically to see if anyone actually had. They hadn't. "And licking my hand won't gross me out enough to make me move it. I've been licked by giraffes, goats, and llamas, you've got nothing on those kinds of tongues."

Harry huffed and folded his arms petulantly.

"You two are an enigma," said Edward, making them both tilt their heads in confusion. They were remarkably alike despite being so different.

"Getting along so well after only knowing each other for a month and a few days. Understanding each other so well already. Having inside jokes. It's fascinating and confusing to not know what's going on in your heads. I'm at a loss here."

"That's how _everyone_ feels, join the club, dude," Harry murmured as Bella pulled away finally.

After wishing things could be silent for years, he found himself wishing for the opposite. It was just unnatural for him to _not_ be hearing thoughts.

Bella took a quick swig of her lemonade and then asked the one question that they all had probably thought at least once since early that morning. "Are we friends now? We're going to Seattle together in less than two weeks, so it seems appropriate that we iron this out now, otherwise things are going to be awkward."

Harry was nodding along. "Best to be on friendly terms at the very least before we get to our great threeso-"

Once again, Bella's hand was attached to his mouth, and Edward had to laugh. They were both so charming, strangely. They worked well together. He needed to get Harry alone to see if they were just as hilarious apart though.

He ignored Emmett's continuous stream of teasing thoughts, to focus more on Bella. "Yes," he answered. "Though as I've warned you before, I'm not really friend material."

She waved him off just as Harry snorted. "Trust me, that's for us to decide, not you. And I'd like to be your friend. And when Harry isn't busy being a perv, I'm sure he'd say the same."

The ringing of the warning bell let them know that their next period was starting soon. So much time had passed yet so little had actually been said. Damn. He needed more time!

Bella jumped to her feet in haste, "We're gonna be late!" Harry rose as well, though much more slowly and seemingly less worried.

"I won't be going to class today," Edward told them, stealing Bella's empty lemonade bottle so he could keep his hands busy with something other than his lunch tray and wasted food. "Sometimes ditching is healthy."

Harry's brows twitched in different directions simultaneously. "What? You scared of blood?" he asked with a smirk, his green eyes glinting playfully.

" _Huh_?" came a very dying goose-like sound from Bella, whose eyes went unnaturally wide and whose face blanched whiter than Edward had ever seen her before. Surely more than could be considered healthy.

"They're blood typing, so a lot of people pricking their fingers and blood _everywhere_ ," Harry said, strange enunciation on some of his words. "You're not looking very good, by the way."

And she wasn't. She looked haunted. "I know my blood type already," she said quietly. "Maybe ditching _is_ healthy."

Harry shrugged. "You do you, I suppose. I can't miss Government though since we have some kind of project we're starting. I'd love nothing more than to skive but literally can't. I swear the class is outdated and knows nothing about actual governmental stuff," he grumbled as if _he_ knew anything about how real governments worked.

The warning bell rang for a second time and Harry patted Bella's shoulder before giving Edward a telling look. He broke into a sprint toward the doors, which morphed into a run. He was across the room and outside in just a couple seconds. The fastest run Edward had ever seen from a human. Bella remained perfectly in place, looking haunted still.

From the windows in the room, Harry was visible, running at top speed toward his next class, breathing perfectly even the entire time as if it was exertion for him.

Edward turned a pitying eye on Bella and stood, taking the back of her coat and leading her toward the door. She followed, saying nothing and not even blinking when he threw out their garbage. He led her all the way out the door and through the rain, toward the office building. At the last second, he hefted Bella easily into his arms to make her situation look worse, and stepped inside. They found Mrs. Cope sipping on some tea at the front desk.

She looked horrified to see Bella's limp form in his arms.

"My goodness!" the old woman gasped. "What _happened_?!"

"They're blood typing in Biology," he told her. "Bella found out before class started and went catatonic. She has intense hemophobia." Judging by her reaction, he was certain he was correct in his assessment. She was paler than usual, a light sweat had broken out across her skin, and she was shaking a bit. Textbook symptoms of a fainting spell.

Mrs. Cope held the door to the office open for him, where the old nurse gaped upon seeing him and then Bella. He explained the situation again.

As Bella laid on an old cot, a cold compress placed on her unresponsive head, Edward worked on dazzling Mrs. Cope into excusing Bella from the rest of her classes for the day, plus giving him special permission to take her home. All he had to do was deliver the note to Mr. Banner before leaving and everything would be set. The school didn't have landlines in the classrooms. It couldn't afford those.

Once outside, he covered the distance in seconds, stopping just outside the door to hold his breath. When he stepped in, he refused to even look at at anyone but the teacher, moving only to hand over the note from Mrs. Cope. The man looked it over and sighed in pity. _There's always one,_ he thought to himself. "There was no assigned homework. Tell Ms. Swan that I hope she gets better."

Edward sent him a smile and a nod, and was out of there without any hassle. The clean air was fresh and smelled of mist.

Bella had not moved an inch, he learned. He sighed in slight amusement, lifting her into an easy hold and nodding to both women, whose minds took a turn for the romantic at his ' _chivalry_ '.

In his car, Bella finally seemed to come awake in the warmth, blinking and looking around, her breath no longer shallow. "The hell?" she asked, looking around dazedly.

"I'm taking you home. You fainted over blood."

She shuddered. "What about Harry? And my truck?"

"I will bring him home and Alice will deliver your truck if you give me the keys."

Debussy filled the silence between them, and Bella half-heartedly hummed along to Claire de Lune. He was pleasantly surprised that she knew it since it wasn't a very popular piece. Many people found it disjointed for some reason, which was ridiculous to him.

"So you have hemophobia," he began, curious to get conversation going.

Bella hummed.

"Can I ask how that came about or is it too sensitive of a topic?" He didn't want to make her uncomfortable.

A shrug was her only response for several seconds as she seemed to internally debate over whether she should answer or not. Eventually, she chose the option to tell him.

"Typically through trauma, like most people with it. School shooting in a Glendale high school that students of the nearest Middle School were allowed to use the library of. Shooter shot my fifteen year old seatmate in the head while we were studying. I had been there because I was thinking about skipping a grade and wanted to get extra studying in so I'd graduate sooner. Since that was supposed to be my future school, I was going through the books in their curriculum.

"I got covered in the girl's blood and brain matter. Shooter then shot herself dead to escape any potential punishment for her crimes. I wasn't the same for months and had to repeat the year instead of skipping ahead a year like I had wanted," she explained, voice strangely monotone. "Switched schools too. That's why I'm older than almost everyone else in my grade."

That was… so dark. Of all the things he'd imagined, it wasn't that or anything like that. All he could think of was a much smaller Bella, just minding her own business and then having to be so thoroughly traumatized at a young age.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that, Bella." No child should ever have to go through that.

The rest of the ride was pretty silent after that. She handed over her keys when he dropped her off and made him swear to keep Harry safe. It was very sweet of her to be thinking of her friend even when she was so under the weather.

"You won't see me tomorrow," he warned her. "I'm going hiking with Jasper and Emmett and we're taking an early weekend to take advantage of the sun. But that means it'll be good for your trip to the beach with your friends, so stay safe and don't fall in the ocean."

She scowled but didn't even rise to his teasing.

He sped all the way back to the school and sat waiting, thinking about how the day had gone so far and wondering just what Harry would say to being driven home by him. They'd finally be alone for the first time.

* * *

Harry was worried when Bella didn't show up for Gym. He was more worried when she didn't meet him outside after Gym was over.

And then he realised she'd sent him a few texts.

> **Bella:** Edward had to take me home because I fainted.
> 
> **Bella:** He remained nice the whole ride.
> 
> **Bella:** He said he's taking you home too.

Edward Cullen was leaning against Bella's truck and looking like a bloody model, more than a school student. "How's Bella doing?" he asked as he approached.

"She seemed to be a lot better after faiting. She has terrible haemophobia it turns out, so I got her excused from classes for the rest of the day and took her home. Alice will be taking her truck home while _I_ take you home."

His sister seemed to materialise beside him, hand already outstretched for the keys. She didn't even hesitate, getting in the big behemoth, starting the ignition, and pulling out smoothly before Harry could even suggest just going with her. So he actually had to go with Edward.

Not that he was complaining or anything!

He didn't want to walk because the rain was coming down harder and harder as the hours dragged on, and he couldn't Apparate when someone was paying this much attention to his whereabouts. So the offer for a ride was a nice gesture.

"I guess I should thank you for even considering my predicament." Even though he could have just Apparated home with none the wiser once he found a secluded spot to do it in.

Edward flashed him a crooked smile that made his heart skip a couple beats. He could get why Bella struggled to think when someone this attractive focused all of his attention on the person he was speaking to. Vampires and their enhanced beauty sucked! It gave them an unfair advantage.

Though Harry wasn't usually one arrested by beauty to be honest. Fleur hadn't ever had much of an effect on him even though he was Bi. Or maybe it was because the beauty of Veela was supposed to hypnotise their prey and Harry couldn't be hypnotised or mind-controlled. So their abilities were useless against him when they weren't hurling fireballs.

"The Volvo is already warmed up, come."

It was, and it was nice. And Edward didn't even care about how wet their both were making the seats.

Edward pulled out of the car park, not driving as fast as he usually did when behind the wheel. "I was wondering if we could play Twenty Questions?" he asked, turning the classical music down a bit so they could better hear each other.

So that was why he was so invested in taking Harry home alone. He was fishing. Somehow, Edward had managed to not cross the wards of Harry's home yet, but he'd definitely checked on Bella already. There was a reason why Harry believed he was interested in Bella only. He'd passed those wards that Harry had set up without hesitation. Though he'd yet to go _inside_ Bella's house.

"Sure. I'm really not interesting, though."

"Somehow I doubt that. It's very difficult to get a read on you. Okay! Do you have any talents?"

He shrugged. "What would you define as a talent? Something I'm naturally good at that I didn't work toward, or something I had to work to be good at? Because I call those skills and I have many skills, but nothing I was really born good at."

"Then do you have any abnormal skills?"

"I'm quite good at Tasseomancy," he confessed. While Divination was certainly woolly and he didn't really like prophecy all that much, reading tea leaves was actually fascinating and one thing he picked up from his classes. And he was good at it once he learned all the proper signs too! He was never wrong as his magic willed the tea he served to arrange the leaves into some form or shape properly.

"Of all the things I considered you would say, that wasn't among them," Edward said, sounding amused. "Favorite colour?"

"Green."

"When is your birthday?"

"The last day of July."

"Favourite person in the world?"

That made him think for a moment. At present it was Bella. If he went back to Britain it would probably be Hermione or Luna. Harry's relationship with Ron would never be as strong as it used to be. Being left during the Horcrux Hunt would never quite heal over no matter how much Ron tried to make up for it. The same person abandoning him more than once made it hard for Harry to trust him the shame way again.

"I'm not sure. In America it'd be Bella. In Europe it'd be my best mate Hermione."

"How would you describe your friend Hermione?"

"Genius. Motivated. Bookish. Practical. Loyal. Honest. Ambitious. Audacious."

"Who would you say is your greatest rival and why?"

"Eh…" Harry shrugged. "I can think of someone who thought of me as some kind of rival but he was never that important in my eyes. He would seek me out nonstop and try to get a rise out of me. His obsession was annoying as hell. Personally though, Draco wasn't much of a rival. Not even during sports games where I trounced him. He was just a prat who whinged about tattling to his daddy all the time.

"Tom however," he paused, thinking of Voldemort, "was a twat who actually had an effect on my life. So I suppose Tom Riddle Jr. is the answer. He was a purist arsehole."

"Who do you look up to the most?"

That was hard to choose from. All the adults he knew and had built opinions on, had other facets of their personalities that he'd never come to expect from them. It was hard to come to grips with new information when you'd already formed your previous assumed unshakable opinion.

Snape's loyalty to his long-dead only friend. Even when it was obvious that siding with Dumbledore and helping him wasn't beneficial to Snape's well-being and he would most likely die, he stayed true.

Sirius and James and their days of bullying. And the lengths Sirius and Remus went to just to try and excuse it. Harry didn't care if they were teens when they did it. Not once in his life had he thought about pinning someone down, choking them out, and then stripping them without consent, because that was what sexual predators did. Being a teen did not excuse someone doing something terrible, otherwise Tom could be excused for setting the Basilisk on the students, killing Myrtle, and fucking Hagrid over.

And Molly, who was perfectly willing to take up the role of a parental figure with him, was pretty xenophobic against non-Brits, racist against non-humans sans Remus, and he didn't forget how she treated Hermione because of Rita's slut-shaming articles in their Fourth Year.

Dumbledore was a fucking let down entirely and Harry didn't even want to get into how betrayed the mere memory of the man made him feel.

Maybe he didn't have to choose an adult. Maybe someone around his own age.

He thought about the friends he'd made along the way, and all of their good and bad traits, and it came to him.

"My friend Luna Lovegood," he decided. "She's always been very different from everyone, but never dared to be pressured into changing who she was to appease others' comfort. She stares into vacant air a lot, seems to know things she shouldn't, and is always profound when she opens her mouth." Luna was amazing.

Edward hummed in thought. "Favourite quote?"

"I have two, actually. **[Those who are neutral in situations of injustice have chosen the side of the oppressor.]** That one is by Desmond Tutu and it hits me hard every time I think about it. And then, **[Things we lose have a way of coming back to us in the end. If not always in the way we expect.]** That one is from Luna, and I learned first hand how true it was." He thought about walking to his death in the Forbidden Forest and how the remnants of the souls of his parents and godparents appeared before him in the order they'd died in.

It was an eerie quote.

"Favourite class you've ever taken?"

"Defence," he said simply. "I'm good at learning defensive manoeuvres."

"Worst subject in school?"

"History!" He didn't even have to think about it. Binns sucked. "And then anything Maths related."

His insistence got him a chuckle. They still hadn't made it to his house. Edward was taking the very long way back to drag out the ride even further. He must really be desperate for answers. It was kind of flattering that he was this dedicated to learning about Harry.

"What do you think of Forks?"

"It's more wet than England, honestly. The air is crisp though and I feel somewhat reminded of Scotland's highlands as a result. Kind of boring if truth be told, but it's not worse than camping for months at a time so I can't complain that much." Regulated heating without spells was nice. Plumbing was great too.

"Most amazing place you've visited?"

"My old school. It was a literal castle complete with turrets, towers, and a viaduct set into a mountainside."

"What is the most dangerous thing you've done?"

He had so many things come to mind! "The list is seemingly endless. Continue playing a sport despite my arm being broken mid-way through. Fending off a massive snake that could kill me with the slightest exposure to its venom. Robbing a bank where the mafia owners would probably kill you at the slightest chance of you being up to no good. Face down my parents' murderer in combat and kill him. Those kind of things."

There was silence for a moment, before the questions started up again.

"Sexual orientation? I would say Bisexual but I thought it best I just get it straight from you so I don't make a mistake in the future and offend you by accident."

"You're right, I'm Bi. How'd you guess?" Harry was certain he wasn't obvious as others would be about their preferences.

"They way you watch the male _and_ female students pretty equally."

Was he really that obvious? Privately he'd been wondering if he was a failure of a Bisexual for not being quite like the others he'd met before. This was kind of a relief.

"What were the contents of the last dream you had?"

"A hot vampire asked me on a date and kept making poor vampire puns that were so bad they made me laugh." Yes, it had indeed happened. He neglected to mention that the vampire in the dream was Edward. Hearing Dream-Edward fake a Romanian accent was hilarious!

"Place you would never visit?"

"Anywhere below the equator, honestly. Too hot until you pass that one line and then it's too cold. No thanks. I grew up in England where we'd rarely get over 15 °C and I'm good for that."

"What were your parents' names?"

"Lily Rose Potter née Evans and James Charlus Potter."

"And what were the names of your grandparents, on both sides?"

He had to think more closely about that since he only learned that info recently after turning seventeen and reaching his majority.

"For mum, her parents were Rosalie Anne Evans née Milford and Edmund Evans. For dad, his parents were Dorea Ursa Potter née Black and Charlus Fleamont Potter."

"What is your biggest regret?"

"Being born on the last day of July. If I wasn't, then a creepy man with an obsession with Divination wouldn't have fooled himself into believing some hammy prophecy given by a drunkard, declaring I would be his future vanquisher." He hated having to think about it at all.

"How would you describe yourself?" Edwards asked softly, eyes almost distant as he drove.

"I'm just Harry." Nothing special. Nothing worth dying for. Nothing that anybody should feel the need to worship for Merlin's sake!

The Volvo pulled up right in front of his house, opposite Bella's. The orange-red behemoth was parked where it should be, and Alice Cullen was bouncing in place on the pavement. She had either driven really fast or Edward had taken even longer than Harry time on his mobile said if was already four!

"I didn't even get to ask _you_ any questions," Harry pouted, feeling a bit cheated. "I don't think that's how Twenty Questions works, you know." He'd never gotten to play it of course, but he'd had a vague idea.

Edward smirked and leaned closer so he could stretch an arm over Harry and open his door for him. He smelled good, though it was damn near indescribable. "Perhaps you should take that as an invitation to come around me more often if you'd like to get to know me better." His breath even smelled good.

It wasn't fair!

Harry resisted the urge to flick Edward's perfect nose, and slid out of the car, holding the door open for Alice to slide in behind him.

"We're starting the weekend early with a little family trip, so you won't be able to grill me tomorrow unfortunately," Edward told him in what was obviously false regret. He seemed too smug to pull it off properly. "Have fun at the beach and get some sun while you can. Please make sure Bella doesn't fall in a tide pool."

Alice waved enthusiastically, and the Volvo made a perfect U-Turn in the middle of the street and zoomed away.

Bella's door opened the second they were gone and she beckoned him over with an insistent wave of the hand.

He sighed and went to join her.

* * *

Bella was relieved to see that Harry was okay. Not that she thought Edward would do anything to him or that he couldn't defend himself, but a good friend should always care about their friends no matter the situation.

She watched Harry wiggle his fingers a bit and felt an odd ripple streak across the house in response. It left her a little cold as a result and she went to turn on the space heater.

"We can talk now," he told her. "No one will hear us."

Magic was awesome!

"The forecast for tomorrow is sunny skies and a high of 65, and his family are going camping early or something. That basically confirmed it for me," she explained. "I didn't really doubt your friend's book, but the whole excuse of taking advantage of the good weather was blindingly obvious."

He nodded. "Seems so. Him avoiding the blood typing too."

Yeah.

"Edward drove you home," Bella said. "What happened?"

"We played Twenty Questions, but the prat managed to do all the asking and kept me preoccupied." Harry looked adorably annoyed by that fact too.

Then that meant that Edward had to _really_ like Harry if he wanted to get to know him that much. "See? He totally wants to talk to you and get to know you. It isn't all about me." Thank goodness. While the thought was flattering it also made her extremely nervous. Bella hadn't ever been a popular person because she just didn't attract people. Her personality was either too bland and her interests considered too Old Lady, or she was too outspoken about injustices being committed every day and that put people off for some reason.

Bella wasn't one for excessive attention and didn't like being stared at either.

"He's too attractive for my own good," Harry said as he plopped into one of the kitchen chairs while Bella went to check on the enchiladas she'd put in the oven for dinner. She was trying to expand Charlie's palate a little at a time, while also introducing him to a marvelous discovery known as spices.

"I know what you mean. I find myself dazzled by him far too often and can't think clearly. I lose my train of thought. When you're there it's easier though."

Easier to remember herself and not be an embarrassment to women everywhere.

"No matter how many studies have been conducted, no one can appropriately determine just how they become so appealing compared to their human lives," explained Harry as he pulled out his Trig homework with a grimace. "I think wix aren't trying hard enough though, because it very well could be something pheromone-related for all we know. Typically, they never think to study things under a non-magical scope. Newt Scamander was the first Magizoologist who dared to, and it helped him understand creatures better than humans."

Magic was fascinating. Hearing about how prejudiced magical people could be though… even to other magical beings, was sad. According to Harry, even the most pro muggle/no-maj wix still retained a sort of condescending attitude toward people without magic. It just seemed as if there wasn't a place that racism and xenophobia didn't exist.

"You want to stay for dinner?" she asked him as she rotated the pan. Their oven was a bit crooked and everything had to be turned every ten minutes or so to make certain they cooked evenly.

"No, that's fine. I'm actually really tired and plan on turning in early. You're lucky you missed Gym because Clapp had us doing laps around the room."

She shuddered in disgust at the very thought of running. If she hadn't fainted, she would have come home with bruised knees and elbows. So maybe it wasn't all so bad no matter how embarrassing it was to be carried bridal style from the school by Edward Cullen and his frigid hands.

"Were you the best runner?" she asked, remembering how fast he moved during said class every day.

Harry beamed. "Yes! I finished all ten laps first! I even lapped everyone twice!"

How he could be so energetic and sporty, she'd never know.

* * *

**~.O.~**

* * *

**A/N: The first is done!**

**How was it? Let me know!**

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

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	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which shit happens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TAGS: Mild Language, Drama, and Attempted Rape.
> 
> Sorry this took so long. It was already written, I just needed to edit  
> it. The reason I didn't do that was because I have fallen into a new  
> fandom suddenly. MDZS/The Untamed to be specific. I am reading  
> the book. I've re-watched the web show several times, and fell into  
> the fanfic hole and have started writing my own fics.
> 
> This is what it's like to get a new fixation. I'm so caught up in MDZS  
> now that I can't seem to focus long enough to edit a chapter already  
> written. This took 2 weeks to edit bit by bit. Sorry.

**A/N: Hello, people!**

**I don't own Harry Potter or Twilight.**

**I have no beta.**

**ENJOY!**

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* * *

**~.O.~**

* * *

Luna,

Recently, I have confirmed that the Cullens are in fact a coven of vampires.  
Specifically, **Type #4** Vampires. They're really obsessed with passing off as  
humans. Enough to skip school on sunny days with the excuse backpacking  
as a family activity, and skipping classes that will have students bleeding to  
get work done. From what I've witnessed, I'd say they are all pretty decent  
people. With a man like Dr. Cullen as their father figure, of course they'd be.

I doubt any of them asked to be vampires though. It just doesn't seem like  
a fun time. Few would ask for such a life.

Your book was very useful, so thanks for lending it to me. I've sent it back  
with this letter as well as a collection of American sweets I think you'll like.  
They really like confections over here. The school, despite being small, has  
a 'snack bar' and there are no healthy options available for purchase.

Not sure if you Saw or not, but I told Bella about magic. She's so strangely  
accepting of odd shite that I wonder just why she can see a man dent a car  
with his foot and not be scared of him. Or how she watched a teapot levitate  
right before her eyes and yet all she did was blink at it. Though if I'm being  
perfectly honest, it's a bit of a relief that she'd so calm about these things.

Anyway, I'm going to be competing in this thing coming up at school called,  
Spirit Week. Each day we can dress up as a different theme. One day is the  
Victorian Era Day and I've already gotten the dress I'm going to wear, picked  
out. It's one of the ones I stored from Grimmauld Place. I think it belonged  
to Walburga at some point. Or even her mom maybe. It would be the fight  
time period considering British wixen fashion choices.

How are things on your end? Did you finally convince Newt to make you his  
Apprentice yet? I'll continue asking this until I get an answer. I wish that a  
letter of recommendation would work, but Newt was never known to be a  
person swayed by titles and fame. Those things mean absolutely nothing to  
him. But he would be mad to refuse your request! You're even better with  
creatures than Hagrid is!

I'll be calling up Hermione some time soon. She'll be able to give me some  
more information that way. Don't feel pressured to write too much if you  
don't have the time on your hands. Prepare for your N.E.W.T.s and if you  
have to, kick the arses of your bullies.

Love,  
Harry.

* * *

" _So are they actually vampires?_ " Hermione asked over the phone.

"Yes," he said. "But Type #4, with a diet of animal blood that they seem to handle every two weeks or so."

" _This could be a perfect chance to study them._ "

"I'm not going to treat them like some kind of experiment, Mione. They're people with feelings and the thought of doing that bothers me a lot. Especially since they don't know I'm a wizard so there would be no equal payback between us."

" _Just a suggestion,_ " she assured him softly. " _Everyone's been asking after you. Are you sure you don't want to accept any of their letters?_ "

" _Yeah. I want to be bothered as little as possible. Things are actually pretty good here and I like being able to just be normal without having murderers after my neck all the time. I'm just another teen in these parts and no one is really that invested in me._ " He neglected to mention Edward's interest of course. He didn't know how Mione would take it or if she'd get all protective. She wasn't prejudiced or anything, but she had grown even more concerned over Harry since the Horcrux Hunt.

Hermione hummed. " _Teddy's a Metamorph._ "

"Woah, _really_?" Just like Tonks? He must be a sight to see.

" _Yeah. He's been driving his parents up the wall. Tonks is out of her depth and Remus isn't much better off, but his experience with you as a baby prepared him enough for this. They're very happy though so it seems to be going well enough._ "

He'd probably have to go and visit some time soon. Transinternational Apparition was a bit tricky but he was powerful enough to pull it off unlike so many people. And he wasn't loud like Tonks. It was best that Harry go and visit them instead of any of them trying to visit him. He still wanted to selfishly hold his little sanctuary to himself for the time being. Too many wix coming around would leave traces and any magical creature powerful enough to sense them would become too curious for Harry's own good.

" _Any plans for the future?_ " his first best mate asked.

"Going to the beach with some people at school and my newest friend, Bella. It's supposed to be nice out and it'll probably be the nicest in a while. I'm looking forward to it."

" _I hope you have fun, Harry._ "

"Thanks, Mione. Don't kill Ron."

" _No promises._ "

* * *

The beach ended up being a lot nicer than Harry had expected. Bella rode with Mike and Harry rode with Tyler, but when they met back up on the sand, the two were finally able to chill. There was a kind of weird air about everyone because there were the pairs who obviously liked each other but weren't getting around to doing anything about it because, as teens were wont to do, many had multiples crushes. So while Tyler and Lauren liked each other, Tyler also liked Bella and Angela. And Mike liked Bella and Jessica. And Lauren hated Bella because of it while Jessica was jealous by trying to be decent about it. And on Bella's end... she still wasn't interested in anyone.

Mike had apparently been as clingy as he could be while driving and Bella had to squeeze Jessica between them to distract him. How both of them didn't realise that Bella wasn't interested in Mike, he'd never know. She'd given no indication and had encouraged him to go out with Jessica even. She had given Edward and Harry more attention than anyone else to be precise!

Driftwood burned in various colours because of the salt that had long since soaked into the wood. It was pretty, and almost magical in a way. The sky was clear and the water was relatively still considering it was a beach. It was nice to be near a beach and be able to enjoy it instead of wondering if he was going to be ambushed at any moment.

Harry and Bella ended up joining a hiking group. More to get away from Mike, Tyler, and Eric who were very clingy toward Bella and seemed to view Harry as equal competition for her heart. And while Bella was great and all, he hadn't really considered dating her yet. It was more just teasing and bluster up until this point since he'd been more focused on other things.

All the jokes about threesomes were to break the awkwardness and get a laugh when tensions were high. He didn't think they'd actually do that. Neither Bella or Edward gave off that kind of vibe. Harry was the most sexually experienced among them and the most comfortable in his body to boot and even he had his own limits.

"You are going to break an ankle," he told her as she stumbled through the forest beside him, hand clutching at the back of his shirt so she didn't fall too much.

"I just don't get how you can dodge all the roots and stones," she grumbled, tripping again and avoiding the ground because he'd caught her arm. Again.

"I'm just that good," he smirked. "Also, my glasses are charmed out the arse so I can see better in the dark, plus spot potential dangers faster."

"Unfair."

"Magic," he countered.

They finally made it minutes later. The tide pools were beautiful as expected. Bella told him about all the times she'd fallen in as a child and how Charlie had to keep rescuing her because she was too adventurous despite her unfortunate personal war with equilibrium. Edward's fears weren't unfounded it seemed. She was so fearless she was almost reckless.

"It was just a lesson I refused to learn," she told him wistfully. "They were so pretty and I wanted to see everything up close. I think gravity took my desire too seriously."

She did not join him in jumping from rock to rock - no doubt having decided to let equilibrium have its victory in their war - and merely accepted his prizes when he returned.

"That's pure opal," he told her, handing over a smooth stone. "It's one of my favourites." He found the colours to be appealing. Some days he liked dark colours and some days he liked bright ones. Depended on his mood when he awoke.

"You should have it since you found it," she said, trying to pass it back to him.

He pushed the offered stone back into her palm and said, "And I'm giving it to you. Besides… I found an arse load." He revealed a pocket full of them, and smiled as Bella clutched hers with a little grin of her own. "I can make protective charms with them later."

There were starfish and eels in some of the pools. He'd been tempted to touch, but also didn't want to disturb them. They were already stranded in the pools until high tide after all. They wouldn't be going anywhere for awhile and they didn't ask to be bothered.

When they rejoined the group on the way back to the beach, they found some of the locals around. They were natives from the reservation nearby.

Bella reconnected with one boy in particular, who seemed very interested in talking about cars with her. Enough to make Mike and Eric jealous. Tyler was a bit too focused on getting Lauren's attention since her valued her opinion on music highly for some reason. And in his mind he was taking Bella to prom so he thought he had nothing to fear. Harry couldn't wait for his hopes to be dashed.

One of the boys from the reservation felt very different to Harry. He was bigger than the rest, muscular, and was dead serious to boot. Harry could feel magic coming off him, but not in the potential wizard way. More in as a magical creature kind of way. But not evil or anything.

He wondered what the boy was. And judging by his animosity toward the Cullens when Lauren mentioned how sad it was that they couldn't come, in some poor attempt to make Bella feel inferior and unwanted, he knew what they were.

Overall, it had been a nice day and it only started raining the moment they went to leave. Bella added a new admirer to her list and Harry planned to never stop teasing her about it! Jacob Black seemed like a decent kid though and out of everyone who fancied Bella by now, he was the least annoying about it.

* * *

"Is that an actual cauldron?" Bella asked, staring at the massive black thing in the center of Harry's living room. It was like those ones that could be found around September when the Hallowe'en decorations came out. Except this one was made of metal. If it was for sale in a store, it'd be like a hundred dollars at the very least!

"This is a pewter cauldron," Harry told her. "The stirring rod is made of silver. I am about to brew a potion and I thought you'd be interested in watching the process."

On the worktable he'd set up to the side, was a list of ingredients though they were few in number.

"First we have salt water in the cauldron. It should be heated to a boil like so." He then grabbed the first mason jar on the table and shook it three times. The green powder inside shifted around and seemed to spark like a firecracker for a second, before settling down. "We shake the powdered wormwood to give it some extra power, and then add it until the solution turns a bright green."

Wormwood?

"Is that the very same plant you went gallivanting in the forest for?" she asked, the memory of her tripping after him coming to mind instantly.

He beamed. "Indeed! Told you I needed it for something!"

The stirring rod began moving counterclockwise slowly. Methodically. Eventually, the green turned into a sort of heliotrope color.

"Once the solution turns purple, we add ground unicorn horn until it turns red." He added the second mason jar, which was filled with a white, sparkly substance that she would have taken for glitter if not for what he'd just said, to the potion. It turned ruby red as expected.

As the seconds passed, it began to lighten in color until it was yellow.

"Then add crystallized water until it turns turquoise. Then repeat the wormwood step until the solution turns light pink."

It wasn't a very strict recipe. There was no set amount that should be added. The 'potions book' open on the desk didn't specify times or amounts. She'd expected something more stern, to be honest.

"Stir until the potion is orange, then add the stewed mandrake until it turns green again."

On and on the previous steps were repeated in different orders until Harry finally stepped back, a fluorescent orange potion sitting in the cauldron. "And here I give you, the Oculus Potion!"

Bella frowned for a second. "Eyes?" she asked, hoping she got the meaning right. She knew her prefixes, roots, and suffixes at the very least.

Harry nodded and ladled some of the potion into a small vial. "The Oculus Potions can repair the effects of the Conjunctivitis Curse, and restore eyesight completely. No one informed me that I could have made or purchased this potion, because they wanted me to look more like my father. As I wore the same style of glasses that he had and had equally messy, dark hair, their nostalgia was apparently more important than my well being."

Every time she heard something about the people he formerly was around, she wanted to choke someone. It was a urge she was unfamiliar with, and distantly she wondered if it made her a bad person.

But then she'd think of the things Harry had gone through _(that she knew of)_ and decided that being angry on his behalf and wanting to protect him were completely normal and she wouldn't ever let someone try and shame her for how she felt!

"I was rightly cross over that as you can imagine. Glasses are a liability in battle and poor vision is even worse. Now though, I can just enchant my existing glasses with spells to expand my field of vision and let me see things that are supposed to be invisible. And I can lie and say I got contacts or something whenever I choose not to wear them."

Magic was so cool.

"What are you going to do with the rest of that batch?" she asked, gesturing to the still full cauldron.

"Probably give it to the medi-witch of my old school. Merlin knows she'll have need of it and I do plan to visit sometime when I have the time to go."

* * *

They were just laying out in the grass behind Bella's house. Anything could happen and yet they were so carefree at present. If Edward's vampire body was capable of having a heart attack, he'd no doubt have had one by now.

Bella had a stack of books at her side while she laid on the quilt she'd brought out. Harry was sitting cross-legged beside her, looking like he was meditating. The forecast had been too sunny for Edward to come out of the woods, so he simply sat in a high tree, watching them without them even being aware.

"Why can't schools ever demand we read things like Twelfth Night?" Harry demanded after an hour of them soaking in the sunlight. "That one is great! Hamlet is dull. Romeo and Juliet should shake their inauspicious stars out of my life. Macbeth is boring on the page. No one appreciates Twelfth Night."

Edward smiled at the brunet's frustration. He happened to like most of Shakespeare's works so he didn't have a problem with re-reading them, but he did agree that the same books were always focused on and others weren't given a proper chance.

Bella rolled over, placing her copy of Macbeth down to ask, "Did you see Macbeth as a play?"

"No. One of my old teachers put it to music and it was fantastic! Made the book seem abysmal when I tried to sit down and read it. I even convinced him to at least get it pressed onto vinyl and I have a copy! Stay here, I'll be back!"

He was on his feet and rushing around the Swan abode and out of sight. Edward listened as his front door opened and he took the steps two at a time. There was the sound of metal moving and Harry mumbling to himself before he found what he wanted.

When he returned, it was with him carrying the body of a gramophone and wearing the biggest brass horn Edward had ever seen, as a hat that slipped down far enough to cover his entire head and shoulders. He hobbled along as fast as he could while being unable to see, and Edward could hear Bella gasp.

"It's beautiful," Bella breathed with wide eyes.

Harry laughed as he set everything down and proceeded to attach the horn. "It's been in my family for a long time apparently. You can touch the horn, it won't break, trust me."

She did so, stroking it carefully and peering inside. "It's amazing. And well-polished."

"You don't have something last over a century without taking care of it. Okay! So you are about to hear Filius Flitwick's rendition of Macbeth! It took forever for me to convince him to do this by I told him people would gladly buy it. It was the coolest thing he had the Frog Choir do at school."

Frog Choir? Before Edward could even wonder at what that was, Harry pulled out a massive vinyl record. The biggest Edward had ever seen.

"I've never seen a record that big before," Bella commented, voicing his thoughts aloud for the both of them.

"Yeah. Wix take things too far sometimes. He said he'd try to get them to come in smaller sizes though, so here's to hoping."

And then Harry did something strange. Something Edward had seen him do before in fact. Right before Chad got someone's lunch dumped on him.

He flicked his fingers in an odd pattern and suddenly, the lever on the gramophone began moving on its own, without any help from him. There was no wire or thread, it was just moving on its own. It wasn't electric and was obviously very old so it didn't possess a battery compartment. It was just moving as if by magic.

The needle was placed on the record and Harry moved back to sit with Bella as they waited.

A triangle and a few flutes filtered through the air from the horn followed by a chorus of people singing, " _ **Double double, toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble. Double, double, toil and trouble. Something wicked this way comes!**_ "

It was indeed the best rendition of Macbeth Edward had ever come across. It felt magical and whole. Better than any stage play of it he'd seen, and he'd seen many in various languages. Better than any audio recording of it he'd heard.

And yet part of his mind was still caught on the fact that the lever kept cranking without anyone or anything moving it. Just Harry wiggling his fingers. Like how an entire table moved three feet when Harry moved his fingers the other day.

There was always something drawing him to Harry. Could this strange ability be it?

Edward wanted answers.

* * *

Edward was not at school on Monday, much to her disappointment. He had mentioned a long weekend, but she didn't think he'd mean that long. In exchange for his presence, she got the sunlight for another day, but was it really worth it?

She'd become a bit too obsessed with him. Thankfully, Harry was there to keep things light and fun. He managed to make her feel less crazy over it too.

"The final third of our threesome is missing today!" he groaned with a knowing smirk. "Who am I supposed to ogle now?"

Since the rest of his siblings were also gone, there really was no one but Harry to ogle. She told him as such, and he scoffed. "I've never been considered conventionally attractive by anyone. No one was lining up to date me or ask me out. One was out of obsession with the famed Boy-Who-Lived that I was nothing like, another was because I was there when her bf died and she knew I had a thing for her and didn't know what to do with her emotions. And the last tried to drug me into dating her because of the whole Chosen One shite."

Bella frowned, not liking the sound of that at all. "What about the people you had your… you know, threesome with?"

"Fred and George are my friends and are a bit biased out of loyalty toward me. Also, they were doing me a favour by helping a bloke out so my first time wouldn't be all awkward and painful. But it was nothing beyond that since none of us wanted anything more."

Harry literally had friends with benefits. She'd never actually heard of it happening in real life and assumed it was one of those TV drama things. She'd always wondered how that could happen without romantic feelings getting in the way, but apparently it was entirely possible.

"You're very handsome, Harry. I've heard many students say you could be a long-lost Cullen. And you have a great personality on top of it all. You're literally the whole package."

And that was when Harry flushed out of pure bashfulness for the first time since she'd met him. Usually he was so carefree and fun-loving and sure of himself. And he never seemed to have any shame nor would he let others try to shame him for being himself.

He ducked his head, eyes to the ground. "You're being too dramatic. Of the two of us who could be like the Cullens, you'd fit better."

While the thought of being a vampire and being able to do all the cool stuff the books said they could do, was awesome, that wasn't enough to change her mind.

"Or we could both be like them," she suggested. "We're pale enough."

"I suppose so."

The day carried on. Jessica and Angela's plan to go to Port Angeles in order to shop for dresses from the Spring Fling was still on except this time Bella was invited since Lauren had bailed for whatever reason. She'd been hesitant to accept since Harry hadn't been invited as well, but he'd pushed her along saying she needed 'girl time'.

It had been awhile since she'd had a girls' night out too. Her last had been with Renee back in Phoenix. Which reminded her that she needed to send her mom an email later. Renee would honestly fly all the way to Washington if Bella didn't keep in touch in a timely manner. She was that intense with her affection.

"Go have fun and take advantage of the lack of Lauren's less than stellar presence."

They snickered together. It was obvious that Lauren felt that Bella was a threat in everything, which made no sense since Bella wasn't pretty or sporty or remotely talented like Lauren. But because Tyler liked her, that was enough for the other girl to be a bitch.

Also, she was homophobic to Harry and while it was done on the sly and most didn't realize it, it had solidified both Bella and Harry's permanent dislike of her.

* * *

While Bella was out with the girls, Harry took that opportunity to Apparate to NYC, where he appeared in the Apparition Point of its very popular magical sector. From there, without even hesitating, he Apparated to Diagon Alley's Apparition Point.

He probably could have made the whole trip in a single go from Forks to London, but he wasn't feeling that adventurous. Just in case something did go wrong after all.

The first thing to do was to visit Molly. She would be the one to spread the news that he'd returned, even if for only a little bit. And his friends would be home for their Easter holiday coming up. About twenty days away from Hogwarts in the middle of the term was always a relief. They would be going back the day after Easter.

The Burrow was as it always was. It leaned no more than usual and looked no dirtier than usual. It was a welcome sight.

He knocked on the front door. While he was considered family, he still didn't feel comfortable walking in when he technically wasn't invited. It was someone else's house after all.

Molly opened the door and beamed the moment she noticed him. "Harry, dear!"

There were hugs and kisses on the cheek, and he was shuffled inside and told to sit at the table as Molly proceeded to pull out the egg basket in what was about to be a master-sized meal she wanted to shove down his throat.

"I decided to come and visit while I have some free time. My friend from school is busy having a night out with the other girls and I didn't want to intrude on their time so I figured it was a good time to visit."

"You're always welcomed here, dear."

The commotion attracted the attention of Ginny, who came bounding down the stairs, three steps at a time. And her loud steps prompted Ron and Hermione to come down as well.

It was good to see them again. They'd all been working really hard to finish their magical education. They had all gone back to Hogwarts unlike him, who switched countries entirely and decided that a muggle education was better for him.

He was pulled in various directions and squeezed to death multiple times. They were firing off questions that he couldn't keep up with and Hermione patted his arm consolingly. "How are you, Harry?"

"Fine. More than fine, really. Things have been going pretty well actually." If he thought about Bella and the Cullen family, and whatever was going on at the reservation, things were going great.

"We should call Remus and Tonks on over," Hermione suggested.

"And the twins," added Ginny.

"And Luna," said Harry. "Though I could just walk over and get her."

And then there was a knock at the door, revealing Luna Lovegood in all her dirigible plum earrings and Butterbeer bottle capped glory, smiling. "No need, I'm right here, Harry. The Flibbitygibbet let me know you were coming today so I came prepared." She proceeded to place a necklace of plaited twine around his neck and winked. "To catch yourself a sparkly someone," she said quietly.

He didn't know what was special about the necklace, but he didn't doubt her for a moment. And would keep it on no matter what, simply because it was nice to see her again and he cherished her time.

"So what's been happening?" asked Ginny as they all sat at the table.

And so Harry told them a bit about what had happened since he moved to Forks. Meeting Bella, and the fact that five students were vampires who fed on animals, and there was something magical in the native reservation nearby.

"Only you would leave magic to get away from it, and then find magic in the very place you settle down, Harry."

It was fun. The friends and the atmosphere without the pressing need to be a hero at all hours of the day. The teasing from the twins. Luna's airy comments every ten minutes. Teddy being absolutely adorable as he kept changing his hair colours every other minute.

He'd missed it dearly. But not enough to stay forever.

While Harry loved his friends very much and would treasure then to the end of time and beyond, he just wasn't capable of being happy in Great Britain anymore.

"Harry," Luna called, looking pleased with herself, "Newt accepted me as his Apprentice."

"That's fantastic!" Finally! Luna would get to pursue her dreams with someone who understood her zeal. "Do you need anything?"

She shook her head and just kept on smiling.

* * *

Bella couldn't believe everything that had happened in the last hour alone. Though she thanked whatever was out there for her odd sense of calm. Ever since that shooting in the library, Bella handled dangerous situations and trauma pretty mildly. She just kind of went cold and become grave. Like she zoned out and was overcome by a deathly serious individual. It allowed her to function in bad situations.

When she was being followed by those men who had followed her for several blocks while she tried to get herself _un_ lost with the GPS on her phone that she sucked at understanding and couldn't even use half the time because her signal kept dropping, Bella had felt the calm creeping in. One moment she was about to panic, and then the next she'd gone cold and resolved herself to Face-Timing Angela with what little service she had at the moment.

" _Oh my God, Bella, we've been trying to get a hold of you!_ " Angela said once she picked up. Jessica could be seen leaning into the camera as well, looking concerned.

"I got lost, I'm sorry. I don't know where I am, my signal keeps failing, and I'm being followed by a group of men," she'd told the other teens in a rush, hoping to get everything out before the signal was lost again.

Their faces morphed into dual looks of horror as Bella angled the camera behind her so they both could see the men following. They hadn't stopped jeering either. She could hear their steps on the sidewalk getting closer no matter how quickly she walked.

Normally, people would be in full-blown panic mode, but Bella was mentally running through what little protective maneuvers she knew. Bella wouldn't go down without a fight and she'd give them the fight of her life. Charlie surely wouldn't be angry if she ended up murdering a rapist to save herself.

" _Bella, you need to run,_ " Jessica told her through the call.

"I fall when I run. I have bad balance." Running would be worse than walking fast. She'd already tripped over the sidewalk and her own shoes several times, receiving mocking chuckles from behind her.

" _Get in the middle of the road at least,_ " said Angela. " _If a car comes by they won't be able to ignore you._ "

She did so.

" _Angela, start recording the screen. Bella, try to get them to walk under a street light. We'll be able to see them better should the footage need to be used._ " On their end, Jessica and Angela were in Jessica's car and Bella could hear the strain of the gas pedal being pressured.

"Okay."

Bella then lead the group of men along the twisting roads, trying to avoid going near the port because there were less lights that way. " _No, Bella, go near the port because we can go there too,_ " said Jessica from the other end of the line. " _I'm speeding as fast as I can while not getting us killed, just keep walking and keep recording!_ "

The men caught up really fast. Bella wasn't like Harry who had never-ending stamina. She'd been walking for three hours and had been relentlessly pursued for the past forty minutes. There were no shops open. No buildings with lights on. It was a fucking ghost town now and it wasn't even eight! What the hell? The port should have been busy!

Closer and closer the scuffing of the shoes came. She didn't have her keys on her so they wouldn't help. She didn't carry a switchblade since she'd never seen a point in it. Not mace unfortunately. She'd only learned how to throw a punch but against four men that wouldn't do her any good. She wasn't a martial artist.

" _BELLA!_ " Angela shouted in warning.

She was roughly grabbed from behind, the phone forcefully knocked out of her grasp. It clattered to the pavement, face up, Angela and Jessica's voices screaming their worries through the receiver.

And just as he was lifting her foot to kick the asshole in the nads, a familiar silver car came screeching around the corner down the road, headlights illuminating the men who all scattered when the car came to an abrupt stop, almost hitting the one furthest from Bella. She was released and immediately dove for her phone, turning it around to capture the faces of the men thanks to Edward Cullen's high-beams being so damn strong. They were perfectly clear and could no doubt be found.

"Get in the car," Edward ordered, stepping out and slamming his own door. He looked like someone you just didn't fuck with.

She didn't even hesitate, keeping the phone trained on the men all the while hearing Jessica and Angela ask what was going on. When she was safe inside and buckled, she said, "Edward Cullen." She couldn't think of much else but that at the moment as her heart finally caught up with her, making her hands shake a little. She could feel her heartbeat in her fingertips.

Edward was back in the car with her a second later. He was inhumanly stiff and his eyes were dark. He looked ready to murder and she was shocked he managed to withhold the urge so well. The car was reversed and it peeled out seconds later.

"I'm okay now," Bella told her friends, feeling that truth deep in her bones. She was safe. She didn't have to fight at all. Edward had saved her. Edward had known where she was?

Angela's face was wet from what Bella could see. She'd begun to cry at some point. " _Oh, thank God,_ " she said. " _Where should we meet you?_ "

"Bella Italia," Edward answered immediately. "It's on 118 E 1st St."

" _We went there for dinner already, we'll see you there._ "

In the end, Angela and Jessica agreed to let Edward take her to eat and then take her home. Angela was charged with texting her every fifteen minutes though and she did nothing to hide the fact that she took an obvious picture of Edward's license plate. Edward didn't even look offended either. He was still stiff over what had happened and was trying to be polite.

"We'll talk about what to do with the video later, Bella. Stay safe."

And then Bella had the most odd dinner of her life. Harry was in for one hell of a discussion later on.

* * *

Being alone with Bella, in an enclosed space, was a true test of Edward's self-control, but he thought he was doing well.

Revealing that he'd been watching after her and Harry all weekend hadn't been in the plan, but then she came out with, ' _I know what you are and I don't care_ ' over dinner and his whole plan was tossed out the window.

How? She was so sure of herself and didn't in the least hesitate to ask him jokingly if he preferred mountain lion or elk.

Edward hadn't been having a good afternoon. Bella went to Port Angeles with Jessica Stanley and Angela Weber, to help the other two shop for dresses for the Spring Fling on Saturday. Harry had not gone with them and had stayed home. And in a panic, Edward had followed at a distance, keeping track of Jessica's thoughts because they were far more loud than Angela's were.

After some time, Bella split off from the group to find a bookstore but never made it. Her scent hadn't even been anywhere near it! She'd gotten lost in little Port Angeles. He shuddered to think how she and Harry would have done in Seattle before he offered to take them.

No one's thoughts held even a smidgen of a glimpse of Bella's face. He'd driven in circles for what felt like forever, trying to find her!

And then she appeared in Jessica's mind, headed for the port, but it wasn't good. The one situation young women everywhere dreaded more than anything, had to be something poor Bella found herself in the middle of at night on a desolate street in a foreign town.

He very well almost killed four humans in cold blood. If she hadn't been with him and recording what was happening with two human witnesses, he would have. His control had been tested to the maximum so many times in a single day and he wasn't sure of how much he could take.

Bella getting lost, the attempted assault, Bella revealing she knew his secret. Too much.

When they were in the Volvo again, on the way back to Forks, he asked a simple, "How do you know?"

And that was when she said the most unexpected thing of the evening. "Harry told me."

How long had Harry known? How long had Bella known? When did he tell her? Why wasn't she scared? What had given them away? How did Harry even know in the first place? And was this tied into the fact that Harry could probably move things with his mind?

So many questions. So little time to get answers since he was already half-way back to Forks.

"And you just don't care?" he asked, incredulous at her declaration. She was so strange. She should be running for the hills or begging for her life or something sane at the very least! She was alone in a car with a monster and she was fine with it!

She shook her head. "No. Harry doesn't either."

"What _is_ Harry?" He'd noticed how strange the boy was with the way he acted and how he spoke. His answers on Thursday had been riveting as well, but also confusing.

Bella said nothing and pursed her lips, looking hesitant. "I… don't think that's my job to tell you. It isn't my secret to tell."

"He told you about _us_ though," Edward pointed out.

"Well technically he gave me a book and vampires were one of the many magical creatures/beings mentioned and you happened to fit the description of the fourth type. And when I asked, he confirmed his own beliefs based on what we knew. And then you skipping school over sunlight and skipping blood typing made it even more obvious."

Fourth type? As in there were other kinds of vampires? Or that Harry believed there were other kinds?

"You can ask Harry tomorrow. If… you're coming to school tomorrow?"

"I'll be there," he assured her. "I have a paper due as well you know."

She smiled and looked away, focusing on the passing trees.

When he pulled up outside her house, he said, "Can you do me a favor?"

"Yeah?" She then frowned, looking annoyed for some reason.

"Don't go into the woods anymore."

"Why?"

Leaning in, using his ' _dazzling_ ' ability that she'd spoken of to its full effect, he said, "Because I'm not the only dangerous thing out there right now." He was of course thinking of the nomad vampires that had killed a Forks resident not too far outside the town. Alice hadn't seen much of them, but had determined that they were just passing through.

"Okay," Bella breathed, eyes going a little unfocused at his proximity.

"Good night, Bella."

"Good night, Edward. Thanks for everything."

He made it back to the house in record time, ignoring Rosalie's insulting thoughts as he walked in the door. The entire family was seated in the living room and were all tense. They looked at him as one body, awaiting the fall of the blade.

"She knows."

Their reactions were all different. Esme remained unbothered, and Carlisle right beside her. Rosalie was ranting about putting the family in danger. Alice was very excited, visions dancing through her mind at a rapid pace as she looked into the future. Emmett didn't want to take any sides and sat awkwardly in front of the TV, and Jasper… Poor Jasper was trying to keep everything calm while also wondering if he'd have to act to protect the family some time soon.

And because of this, Edward decided to drop the next bomb on them as well. "Harry is the one who led her toward the information and then they watched us to see if we fit the description."

That shut everyone up, in more ways than one. It was the bit no one expected.

"What?" Alice asked, voicing all of their concerns in a single word. If Alice was confused then they were all well and truly fucked.

He shrugged. "I don't know, but I intend to find out tomorrow. I just hope she won't be traumatized by all of this."

Everyone instantly went silent externally and internally as well. The varying looks of worry made him feel only slightly better.

"I fund Bella... on a dark, lonely street, surrounded by four men."

Rosalie's thoughts turned a cross between murderous and horrified, her teeth grinding loudly throughout the room.

"And while she seems to have accepted the situation and was calm, I am not. I had to hear their thoughts. Hear their plans. See what they wanted to do to her. And I'm very not okay right now." He and Rosalie's interests aligned in this moment.

While Esme pressed a hand to her chest, Jasper threw every bit of calm he could scrape together at Edward, hoping to help him out.

It didn't work.

Moments like this made him hate his ability even more.

* * *

**~.O.~**

* * *

**A/N: Another is done!**

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

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	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry just leaves the Cullens even more confused than before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TAGS: Mild Language, Drama, Insensitivity, Queer Themes, and Angst.
> 
> -Y'all, I am so deep in MDZS/The Untamed that I've POSTED 6 fics  
> so far! I've written 16+ more that haven't been posted yet.
> 
> -This chapter was apparently finished a while ago and I just didn't  
> remember, so I put it through a final edit. Sorry. This is what I am  
> like when I get into a new fandom.

**A/N: Hello, people!**

**I don't own Harry Potter or Twilight.**

**I have no beta.**

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* * *

**~.O.~**

* * *

Bella sighed and wrung her hands a few times. Angela had sent her the video by the time she'd made it home, and she'd uploaded it into a flashdrive to give to Charlie. Now she just had to actually hand it to him and explain.

It was a bit embarrassing. Bella wasn't really a prideful person but having to admit how helpless she'd been felt degrading in a sense. No one wanted to admit to their own weakness because it's seen as a flaw. Being flawed is 'wrong' and 'shameful' etc...

"Hey, dad?"

Charlie looked up from his favorite recliner, where he had a beer in one hand and a piece of greasy three-meat pizza in the other. He picked up on her demeanor immediately and set both items down. "What's wrong, Bells?"

She held out the flashdrive, glaring at her own hand for how it shook. "I got lost tonight," she told him, refusing to meet his eyes. One thing they shared was the ability to manipulate through their doey brown eyes. She couldn't bear to see his disappointment. "No lights were on. My signal kept failing me. I got followed by these guys for like an hour so I FaceTimed Angela when my signal was strong and Jessica had her screen-record the whole thing while they tried finding me. We got their faces in clear view and felt it'd be best for you to have them on file in case something happens in the future."

He didn't even hesitate to pull her into a tight hug. Bella wasn't big in any way so she folded right into the space easily. Charlie was warm and safe. He was okay. Trustworthy.

Crying also wasn't something she did often because she didn't really have reasons to. Awkward and antisocial leanings aside, Bella lived a very privileged life and wanted for nothing that was needed for a safe existence.

And yet…

"I'm getting you one of those knives disguised as lipstick or a pen. You can't conceal carry in this state but knives disguised to _look_ like something else are acceptable. And I'm getting you some mace and a taser. You'll have to leave the taser in your truck since it legally can't be brought into the school building, but having it there would be useful," he murmured into her hair.

Already he was working out on how to limit the chances of her being left so helpless again. With Charlie it was always the actions that mattered most.

"I'm going to teach you how to throw a solid punch too. And how to redirect incoming attacks. I'll show you how to fight dirty. When your life's on the line, nothing is too ' _cheap_ ' to use."

He proceeded to squeeze her even tighter.

Charlie Swan was a good father.

* * *

Harry's mobile rang the moment he Apparated home. Right on time it seemed. It was already dark outside and the night had fully set in around Forks. And yet he was getting a phone call so late in the evening already.

It was Bella of course. There would be no one else calling his mobile at such a time since he didn't go around sharing his number with everyone. "Get over here!" she hissed into the receiver, sounding just a tad hysterical. "Shita happened!"

"Bella, it's like nine in the evening. I don't think your dad will want me coming over so late."

"Apparate or something. It's best we talk face to face for this shite."

He sighed. "Let me get some food quickly. I'll be there in a minute."

He proceeded to grab a box of **[Cookies and Cream Pop-Tarts]** \- which had become a guilty pleasure in recent weeks - from his cupboards and did as requested, finding himself standing in Bella's room with the smallest of _pops_ to announce his arrival.

She rushed over and locked her door for good measure, eyes wide. "I nearly got raped in Port Angeles."

And the box of food was forgotten instantly in his sudden bout of panic. Bella placed a hand on his mouth to halt the flow of questions that would have sprung forth otherwise. "Edward Cullen saved me."

That did serve to calm him a little bit, but he had so many questions.

"He followed us out there. They'd gotten back on Sunday and he was watching us because he was worried over what could happen with my horrid luck. I've learned that he and his family _are_ vampires and that he specifically can read minds."

Distantly the words of Snape came to mind. About how the mind wasn't some book that could be easily read and it was far more complex than anyone could ever truly hope to understand. Still, the idea and understanding that came with it were appropriate for the situation so it wasn't really wrong per se. Besides, he didn't know the specifics of Edward's ability. There were so many version of telepathy out there and he'd wait for more information before judging.

"Edward can read minds?" he repeated, just to make certain he heard correctly.

She nodded. "Except ours."

"How?" Harry's Occlumency wasn't that good. He hadn't improved that much since the failed lessons with Snape and hadn't really tried to if he was being honest. Voldemort had still been able to get in whenever either was too emotional to block each other out.

"I don't know. I'm basically dead quiet as if I'm not there, while you have some sort of wall, I guess. Your mind makes its presence known but he can't see anything you envision or hear what you're thinking. And his ability is involuntary. He described it as existing in a room filled with thousands of people all talking at once, creating this din of noise he can't escape. And some people, being louder than others, have louder thoughts that others. And he can only somewhat dim the thoughts of others, if focusing on one person at a time. It's how his family knows when to move before people become too suspicious apparently."

Unfortunate. Perpetual Legilimency sounded like a pain in the arse to deal with. But also it explained a lot. Harry's go-to form of protection for his mind was a wall. Basically. Or like a dome of invisible bricks protecting the nucleus of his mind. It was the best he could do since he wasn't very good at shielding his mind with magic. Harry hadn't ever been a genius. He wasn't like Tom Riddle, mastering wandless and nonverbal magic before starting at school, or Snape, who was creating spells and counter-spells and revising existing Potions texts while in school.

He was just Harry.

"He knows you technically told me about vampires, but I didn't tell him about you being a wizard because I figured that was your secret to tell and I'm technically not supposed to know either secret," she went on to explain.

Okay. He took a deep breath. Okay. This was fine. It at least meant they didn't have to curb their tongues as much while at school. Keeping secrets was so much work so it was kind of a relief. Remembering not to give their knowledge away to listening ears had been a bit of a struggle. Bella had almost slipped up several times.

"And how do _you_ feel about all of this?" he asked her. She was the one new to the magical world as a whole. She was at the bottom of the power tier so to speak. In basic terms, she was the most vulnerable person involved.

"I feel kind of calm and kind of nervous?"

"Then would it be the wrong time to mention that there's something magical about the people down in La Push? Specifically that Sam boy?"

A look of understanding filled her expression and she proceeded to excitedly smack his arm multiple times as she reached an epiphany. "The Cullens aren't allowed on their land! Remember those stories Jacob told us about the tribe's connection to wolves and Sam's comment about the Cullen's not going there ever! They must know!"

Harry nodded. He hadn't thought those stories were very important so he hadn't focused too much on them. He'd seen it as a teen boy trying to impress/scare a girl he liked. Thank Merlin Bella cared enough to listen though. "I don't know what's going on there yet, but it seems this is a hotspot for the supernatural." Weird how that happened.

"Damn. Who knew a tiny town in the middle of nowhere Washington would be more exciting than Phoenix?"

He shrugged. Vampires, Wizards, and Whatevers, oh my!

"So… the chances for that threesome are going up, right?"

She threw a pillow at him in response and he couldn't help but snort.

* * *

Edward Cullen was right in front of Bella's house the next morning, seconds after Charlie Swan left for work. Alice had been a great help in providing exact times for when to be ready.

He leaned on the hood of his Volvo, waiting for either of his obsessions to leave their houses. He could hear both going about their morning routines, though they had different methods.

Bella was rushing it seemed, opening and slamming doors of all sorts and tripping over herself every three seconds. She muttered a swear and gave a punishing kick to a chair she'd tripped over, making him smile at the imagined scene.

Harry though, was very calmly going about his morning and was humming something familiar though Edward's vast memory didn't help him place a name. It was something that was originally in French though, that much he could remember.

Finally, it was Harry who came out first, loudly slinging his bag over his shoulder as he put on his playlist called, **[Up & At 'Em]**, which he listened to every morning to get himself to wake up fully. It was his extended ' _Uh…_ ' that made Edward turn to look at him.

Today he'd chosen to wear a white button-up shirt, and over it was a bright green sweater that matched his eyes, with a sparkling silver H stitched on the front. His jeans and boots were black, and his hair was artfully messy. His glasses were gone and he looked shocked to see Edward there. His green eyes seemed ever bigger without the wire frames in the way.

"So you're really taking the whole not staying away thing seriously, huh?" Harry asked once he crossed the street. He smelled divine as always, and wore no cologne thankfully. The chemicals always agitated his sense of smell.

The vampire inclined his head. "I don't want to anymore and it seems there's no longer a secret to hide, so why even bother?"

Harry nodded along with his reasoning. "Point."

Bella's door opened, interrupting any further conversation. She froze much like Harry did when she noticed them standing there. Her ensemble was a light brown coat and purple mittens, over a long-sleeved green shirt and blue jeans.

"Why don't you ride with me today," Edward suggested with an easy grin, making the young woman flush delightfully. That little bit of warmth on her cheeks was appealing considering how abnormally pale she usually was. For a human at least.

She looked at Harry for direction, and he simply shrugged.

Edward's phone vibrated and he looked down quickly to find multiple texts from Alice.

**[Alice:** WTF?! **]  
[Alice: **OMG! **]  
[Alice:** HOW?! **]  
[Alice:** I NEED ANSWERS! **]**

"I'll meet you at school," said Harry.

Before Edward could assure him that he'd meant that he would take _both_ of them to school and Harry wouldn't have to walk anywhere, Harry's entire body kind of twisted in on itself in a mass of colors and then vanished with a quiet _pop_.

He'd never felt his stomach drop in such a way ever since he'd begun this new way of existing. He looked around frantically, but nothing of Harry's presence remained. It looked as if he hadn't even been there at all, save for the indentation of his small feet in the mud on the ground, and the scent he left behind. "Where did he go?"

Bella sighed. "He Apparated to school. It's like teleportation but more fancy than that. Harry thinks strange things about himself and his worth in the eyes of others. So he probably assumed you only meant me since we've had more time together and he can't seem to fathom the idea that you want to be his friend too."

That… wasn't good. Had he not made his interest startling enough? His family thought he was acting quite brazen considering his past behavior. He even swindled eighteen specific answers out of the teen the other day! And he had many more questions he wanted to ask and planned to ask them!

"We can talk to him at school." Harry wouldn't be able to avoid them very well, even if he and Edward didn't have any classes together.

Also, the ' _teleporting_ ' thing explained why Alice suddenly texted him in a panic. She'd seen a Vision no doubt and reacted accordingly. He didn't really have any answers for her though.

The ride to school was more quiet and awkward than the ride from the previous night. Both were concerned about Harry and whatever was going on with him. Especially Edward since he'd never heard of a human being capable of teleportation before - or even a vampire for that matter - and certainly never saw it happen either in person or in someone's mind!

"What exactly _is_ Harry, Bella?"

"Magic," she simply said, as if it would explain everything.

And it kind of did. As well as explaining nothing at the same time. It gave him answers and yet left him with more questions than anything else.

It explained how he could make a whole table move noticeably and how he had the lever of the gramophone moving on its own. How he could disappear from one place and presumably appear in another a second later. How he was so confident about himself. How he was a member of a former cult of pagans! How he did Tasseomancy as a hobby and had skill in it!

The pieces were coming together most surely, but there were still so many gaps.

They pulled into the school parking lot and found Harry waiting on the wall near the office. In his hands was a bag from **[[In Place](https://forkswa.com/listing/in-place-restaurant/)]** which was a restaurant with a breakfast menu that was considered a town favorite. He was finishing up what looked to be biscuits and gravy.

In the time he'd been waiting, he'd had enough time to stop for food across town. Just how fast could he… teleport?

Harry jumped off the wall and speed-walked on over to join them as he crumpled up his garbage. "Hey."

Bella didn't even hesitate to whack him in the arm with her backpack. "He wanted to drive us _both_ , you drama queen. You didn't stay long enough to hear him out and everything was awkward as a result."

A dark blush spread across Harry's pale face, looking just as fetching as the one adorning Bella's.

"I would never take away your only mode of transportation by offering a ride to the person giving _you_ rides," Edward told him. "That would be incredibly rude not only to a friend but just to a person in general who had done nothing wrong to me." He was offended that Harry would even assume he'd do something like that.

"Sorry, guys," the Brit murmured, looking away awkwardly. "We should get to class."

Edward walked them all the way to English, just because he could, and warned Bella ahead of time, of what was awaiting her. "Jessica plans to grill you the moment she sees you, so be prepared for a long morning spent gossiping."

Bella looked panicked, switching between looking to Harry and then Edward for guidance. "What does she want to know?"

He smirked. "Now that isn't quite so fair, is it?"

" _You_ not sharing what we all know you know is what isn't fair here!" the young woman blustered, a look of deep embarrassment and adorable frustration on her face.

Harry nodded along in agreement. "She has a point, Spock."

Oh no. He could see the nickname sticking and he did not like it. Edward hadn't ever been into Star Trek. He preferred Star Wars personally, but he would admit to the music in both being spectacular.

Still, he knew enough about Spock as a character and did not want to have such a nickname following him around.

"Fine," he relented. "She wants to know if we're secretly dating and how you feel about me. And she'll go into details for the answers. Yes or No won't cut it."

Harry was looking back and forth between them, eyes wide. Edward would give anything to know just what he was thinking at that moment.

"What should I tell her?" Bella asked, looking worried.

Hmm… "I suppose you can just say yes to the first as it'd be easier on all of us. And for the second answer… I can't wait to hear what you say." He winked for good measure, and then turned to go to his own class. "See you at lunch!" he called over his shoulder as he went.

Eventually, the sound of the building's door opened, and he could hear Harry sigh. "So I guess the threesome is dead, huh?"

" _Harry_!"

The sound of a smack filled the air followed by a loud "Hah!" from Harry.

True to his word, Edward did keep an ear out the entire time, employing his superior senses and extra ability to hone in on Jessica. She, Bella, and Harry all had Trigonometry and then Spanish together before Lunch rolled around. It was very useful to have them all in one place in order to get good visuals on Bella and Harry.

Something minutely concerning was Jessica noting Harry's depressive mood when he walked into Trig. He'd just been in Biology II, away from Bella or anyone else in their usual friend group so Edward didn't know who to listen to to find out what had happened.

He wouldn't tell either Bella or Jessica what was wrong either.

As for Jessica, she put Bella through the longest and most teenage kind of game of Twenty Questions he'd ever witnessed.

The confirmation of Bella liking him far above what would be considered normal was nice. It made his obsession feel far less pathetic or creepy. Though yes, it was still creepy to an extent and he'd been made perfectly aware of that fact by Rosalie. Rosalie pulled no punches when speaking her mind.

He had to give her kudos. Bella managed to distract Jessica all throughout Spanish over what had to be the smallest interaction with Mike Newton that morning in English. It should be considered a talent of some sort. Jessica was far too easy to distract though.

Edward waited outside the Spanish classroom, leaning against the wall. Harry, Bella, and Jessica came out and noticed him immediately. Bella's eyes brightened. She looked thrilled to see him.

Both Harry and Jessica rolled their eyes. "See you later, Bella," Jessica said. _You will dish even if I have to stalk you for information!_

To Edward's astonishment, Harry walked away without even a backwards glance. This of course made both he and Bella frown and share a look of confusion.

And then Jessica ended up being useful for the second time in a day by quietly murmuring to Harry as they went, "Are you okay with that?"

He shrugged. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"'Cause you like him too. I know you do. And he seems to like you as well." She was a lot more observant than Edward had previously given her credit for.

Another shrug. "It's not like that. He really likes Bella and if you want to date someone, you have to make sure you get on with their mates otherwise it can cause some bad tension for everyone. I've seen it happen where no one got on, and it isn't pretty. So it's smart that he wants us to at least be friendly with one another since I've known Bella longer than anyone else here. Making her have to choose between her friends and her boyfriend wouldn't be fair. If we're all friends then it's fine."

It was like a slap in the face to hear how Harry perceived their growing relationship. Edward had been trying really hard to engage them equally, but it didn't seem like Harry saw it that way.

And Edward didn't know what to do about it. He'd never been in this sort of situation before.

Having no classes with Harry seemed to make it even more difficult. Perhaps he could get transferred into one of Harry's classes?

* * *

"I'll get the food, you get Harry," Edward told her the moment they stepped into the cafeteria. "He's not getting away without a fight."

That was a relief. She didn't want him to think he was getting left behind or anything. And being replaced was a horrible feeling. Bella had been replaced enough growing up because other kids realized how uninteresting she was as a person. She didn't want Harry to feel like that.

She went over to Mike's usual table and proceeded to take Harry's hand and give an insistent tug. "What?" he asked. "Where's the final third part of our now-dead thre-"

She slapped a hand over his mouth before anyone at the table could hear the rest of his question. "We want you to sit with us too, you know."

"Yeah but he's _your_ boyfriend, not mine. Third-wheeling isn't very fun, you know."

"Who said you'd be a third wheel?" she demanded, ignoring how her heart did little skips at his declaration.

He shrugged for what felt like the umpteenth time that day.

"Come sit with us," she insisted, tugging more openly now.

Eventually he sighed and stood. "Fine." He had only his satchel with him and no food in sight. With a wave to Jessica, who was entranced like she was watching some kind of soap opera, they headed toward where Edward was seated at the end of the same table he'd been at the last time they'd all spent Lunch together.

The tray on the table was filled with everything possibly offered up at the snack bar, and he pushed it toward them when they sat. "For you. _Both_ of you," he clarified with an intense look at Harry that merely elicited a flush of embarrassment but nothing more.

Unfortunately for them, Harry's mood didn't lighten up in the least. Even with his running gag about the threesome he didn't seem to be backed by happiness.

"What happened, Harry?" Bella asked softly. "You came back from Biology down in the dumps and I don't know how to make it better. I'm not good at these things."

Edward watched them intensely, he tended to do that a lot, but remained silent during their exchange.

Harry shrugged. "It's not that big of a deal. I was just hit with a lot at once."

"Would talking about it help?" She'd read that that was a thing people should do when they had problems. Personally she never wanted to tell others about her problems for fear of being a burden to them. Unload your grief enough times and people would get tired of you. But she wanted to help Harry since he rarely ever spoke about his problems.

"It was in Biology," the brunet revealed quietly. "Everything was fine as we waited for Mr. Banner to come in. The occupants of the table behind me were being a bit loud. The guy was whining about how his parents grounded him because they caught him drinking their beer. His seatmate was siding with him the whole time and he drew my seatmate into the conversation, which ended up with me getting involved by extension as he searched for a sympathetic ear.

"And while I was just prepared to wave off his words, he had the audacity to look an orphan directly in the eye and say, _'God, you're so lucky you don't have parents to tell you what to do all the time'_."

Bella gasped in horror. It was very public knowledge that Harry lived alone. That his parents had been dead his whole life and the house he lived in was the last gift to him from a dead godfather. To even think such a thing would be remotely funny or okay to say to him was disgusting. To think to make such a joke in general was fucked up.

She felt an urge to wring someone's neck, which wasn't the first time her protective instincts came out in defense of Harry. This seemed like it was going to be a recurring thing.

"I'm sorry, Harry." She didn't really know how to go about making that better after all.

"Me too."

"Who said it?" Edward asked, face dangerously stoic. "Just for clarification purposes of course."

"No you don't!" Harry hissed, leaning over the table in the greatest show of emotion he'd managed that morning. "It's not that big of a deal in the long run. Besides, my seatmate made them feel guilty enough when they winced and then nodded toward me with wide eyes. I'm just not fully over this yet and it's my problem to deal with. I'm about to be eighteen and I'm still hung up on something that happened almost seventeen year ago."

Bella frowned. "But you remember the event perfectly," she said. "You even remember exactly what was said while it happened. There's no way you're going to let go of that on your own, Harry. And no one should just expect you to get over a traumatic event when it was constantly brought to mind every year for the past several years."

He was being far too hard on himself over something out of his control. Also, telling someone struggling with a mental illness or a traumatic event to just ' _get over it, so-so time has passed_ ' was terrible. Inconsiderate. Rude. And she had a feeling that someone had told him something like that before for him to be so hung up on it.

She'd hated it when people told her to get over the Glendale shooting. As if getting splattered in a girl's brain matter was so simple that she could close her eyes and forget about it. How dare someone trivialize what Harry had been through.

"I know that," Harry said shortly. "It just- people don't seem to understand. I am from probably one of the wealthiest families in Britain, whether people know it or not. My wealth extends enough that my line can continue through me for another thousand years, and all my descendants wouldn't have to work a day in their lives. And yet I would give all of that gold in my vaults to have my parents back. To know them."

It was tragic to think about.

"And even with all of my power beyond mortal imagining, there is no amount of money I can pay, or a ritual I can perform to bring them back to what I want them to be. My only method solely available to me is to selfishly recall their spirits to the mortal realm and if they remain in this world for too long, they languish and become despondent. And eventually try and convince me to die in some way to join them."

Bella's heart stopped at that. She didn't doubt that he could do what he said and just the thought of his parents actually wanting him dead? How? They died to keep him alive! That was what started the whole Boy-Who-Lived thing!

She could see Edward echoing her thoughts on his face. It couldn't be understood in plain terms.

"Don't be offended," Harry told them softly and with an age-old grace that seemed abnormal on his young face. "Once a soul crosses the Veil of Death, things change. When they go into the Afterlife it's fine. Death is no longer the fearful unknown to them. Everything is better there so why not want your loved ones to benefit too when Life is literally worse? The truly departed don't see things the same anymore as they start losing memories of their time Alive. Ghosts, which are like afterimages of spirits left behind because they can't bear to go yet, love regaling people of the tales of their deaths. They count their Deathdays like it's a game. They find their deaths to be amusing stories and will re-tell them as often as they can with relish.

"It's literally like, _'I botched a spell on a lady of Henry VII's court in 1492 and my head was chopped off! But because I was trying to heal myself at the same time and the blade was blunted, it took longer than anyone expected. Eventually I emptied my core too much to continue moving by the 45th chop and I just gave up and died! Ha ha ha! They still didn't succeed since I have a centimetre of skin connecting my ghostly head to my ghostly neck! Ha ha ha! Too bad I can't join the Headless Hunt though! My request has been denied for the three-hundredth year!'._ "

It was too much of a revelation for a Lunch period. This was something that should be talked about in the privacy of a warm living room. Or a bedroom. And Edward was still being exposed to what Harry was in general, so all of this piled on at once had to be confusing for him to sort through. And his family be extension since they had to be listening in.

Bella placed what she hoped was a comforting hand on Harry's arm. "I'm sorry that you have to deal with these things, Harry."

He shrugged. "That's Life. Literally. Can we leave the depressing topic of my loneliness and talk about something actually interesting?"

They sat in awkward silence for a moment, before Edward sat up suddenly and said, "Do you actually need to go to Seattle on Saturday or was that an excuse to get your many admirers off your backs?"

Her face flamed at the reminder of just what he'd done to give Tyler a chance to ask her out that convinced him he was taking her to prom of all things! "We actually did plan the whole trip and everything, thank you very much."

"We made an itinerary," Harry added. "And calculated all of the costs for petrol and food and the parking meters we might face. We weren't joking."

"And do you have anything planned on Sunday?"

She and Harry shared a look and shook their heads at the same time.

"Would you mind spending the day with me here? I'd like to show you both something."

"Um… sure?"

He flashed them a beautiful smile that left her hearts doing crazy little flips in her chest. "Perfect."

The first warning bell rang, and Harry stood, adjusting the strap of his satchel. "See you in Gym, Bella. Bye, Spock."

Edward crooked a finger. "May I have your bag?"

He proceeded to dump all the snacks he'd purchased, that were still unopened, into it and said, "You both can have them later."

"What would you do if someone dared you to eat?" she asked, immediately thinking of that book she'd read.

He sent her a look, lifted the lone piece of pizza left on the tray, and took a bit of it. His face screwed up into a grimace. According to the book Harry had, he would have to force that up and out later. "If someone dared you to eat dirt, you could do it, right? No matter how unappealing it is."

"Dirt isn't that bad," she said defensively. Raspberries were literally worse.

He smiled. "Only you, Bella. Let's get to class."

* * *

Edward was hyper aware of everything. More so than usual. Harry had said so much and so little at lunch. Things Edward couldn't hope to keep up with since he didn't have all the information involved. Bella seemed to have more, but that made sense since the two were practically best friends and did everything together.

If he took what Harry said as the plain truth, then Harry had magic and had abilities people could only dream of. One was the ability to predict the future to an extent through tea leaves. Another was making things move with his mind. And possibly another was bringing the dead back to life, at least in soul form.

They didn't even get to address the issue of their friendship because someone had honestly told Harry, sweet, good Harry Potter, that he was lucky to be alone in the world. Because that's what saying he was lucky to not have parents, meant.

Harry had been neglected by his mother's sister and her husband, at the very least. At the most he was severely abused and was simply trying to ignore that fact. That was not the kind of life any child should have to grow in.

Bella was on edge the entire class period. Her face kept twisting with her thoughts. Sometimes she'd peek at him and smile sadly, and others she would glare out the window fiercely. She didn't take the talk at lunch any better than him, and she had more information! Her finger tapped an agitated rhythm on the table for the entire class period.

He walked her to the Gym afterward, finding Harry waiting outside for them. The brunet smirked, mood seemingly having improved while he was in Government. "Hello. Bella, we're doing laps today."

"Oh _God_!"

"Thankfully, I came prepared!" Harry proceeded to pull out a pair of sporty gloves and knee pads from his satchel. "It is inevitable that you will fall, so I wanted to minimize the damage as best as I can."

She flushed, but accepted them anyway. "Thanks, Harry."

The two humans then looked at Edward expectantly, and without hesitation, he took up a free hand from each of them and pressed them to his cold lips, enjoying the flood of color in their cheeks in response. For once he liked having such an affect on someone. "I will see you after class."

He spent the class period paying heavy attention to Mike Newton's thoughts and what he saw. As usual, his attention was on Bella the most, but occasionally it would swing over to Harry out of jealousy for Harry being such a good runner. And Harry looked very good in his shorts and t-shirt workout gear. Bella's comment the other day about everyone thinking he was a long-lost Cullen, really had some merit.

And it _was_ a thought many had. Harry was just so pale that he could pass for a vampire if he stood still enough. In the class though, he was anything but still, overlapping everyone easily as if he'd been born for running alone.

Eventually, he was free to wait for them outside the gymnasium, and smiled when he saw Harry holding Bella's elbow. She'd taken far too many tumbles the whole period. Those pads have saved her from even worse injuries.

"If I hadn't given you those pads and gloves, this would have been so much worse."

"No kidding," Bella grumbled as they walked.

Edward stepped into their view and smiled when they both blinked for several seconds. He was, apparently, ' _dazzling_ ' them and he wasn't even trying.

"Ready to go home?" he asked, making certain to stare at Harry while saying it so he'd get the picture.

The green-eyed beauty rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I get it. Let's go."

* * *

**~.O.~**

* * *

**A/N: Another is done!**

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**See ya! :D**

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CHECK OUT MY MANY OTHER FICS! ^-^


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which questions are answered but no answers are enough to satisfy everyone's curiosity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TAGS: Mild Language, Drama, Angst, and Queer Themes.
> 
> -Sorry about the delay on this chapter. It as mostly edited but it felt like  
> something was wrong and no matter how many times I came back to look  
> it over, I could not find the problem. And then we found out our landlord  
> didn't pay property taxes in like 4 years so the house was repossessed. We  
> had to move suddenly. The new place didn't have wifi. I legit went without  
> internet access for 20 days. I was so miserable you have no idea!
> 
> Anyway, I have it now and gave this a look over and found the problem  
> and also managed to add 500 words while editing again! So here you go.  
> Hope you like it.
> 
> -Also, I'm still pretty deep in the MDZS/The Untamed fandom right now.  
> I've written even more fics. Many of which aren't posted yet. Wish I could  
> post them on FFN but the sections are poorly managed on FFN.

**A/N: Hello, people!**

**I don't own Harry Potter or Twilight.**

**I have no beta.**

**ENJOY!**

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* * *

**~.O.~**

* * *

"Alright! Spill!" Emmett demanded the moment they were all in the house.

Esme was there to greet them and Carlisle hadn't had to go into work so everyone was very much accounted for that afternoon. Edward sighed internally, wondering how to get through this when he barely had any information himself.

Even he had questions that needed answers. Maybe not all of them no matter how much his curiosity was in overdrive, but at least _some_ answers would be appreciated.

"Harry is magic," he said plainly, since that was basically what Bella had told him. "I don't really know what it means but he can make objects move with just a flick of the hand or a twitch of the head. I've watched him do it to a table and a gramophone. He disappeared on the spot and nothing of him remained but a bit of his scent and the indentation his shoes had made in the mud. He told me he likes reading tea leaves for fun, and we already knew he was from a cult in Britain. I'd say witchcraft but I'm not very sure."

" _Witches_?" Jasper said doubtfully, his thoughts going off on a tangent about potential dangers this could bring to the coven and how to neutralize them effectively. Some thoughts were rather morbid, so Edward tried to block them out since they still made him uncomfortable. And of course, feeling his response, Jasper endeavored to mute his thoughts somewhat, which was appreciated.

He shrugged, since barely a second of time had passed. "We're vampires. Some of us can read minds and see the future. There are werewolves out there still, despite Caius' efforts. Wolf shape-shifters live down in La Push. I wouldn't be so quick to deny the potential existence of other supernatural beings. Being vampires doesn't mean we're all-knowing, especially for such solitary creatures like us."

Even for a mind reader like him, he couldn't know everything there was to know about the world. he had time on his side to learn but even then he would never know everything.

They knew next to nothing about Harry's potential abilities and what he was capable of for example. Or what people _like_ him were capable of.

"And Isabella knew?" as Carlisle as he gently held Esme's hand in an effort to keep her calm without the aid of Jasper's abilities. She was doing an admirable job since she wasn't necessarily terrified or anything.

"Yes. He decided to tell her because hiding it seemed pointless with how they seem to be closest to each other than anyone else in Forks. She called his disappearing act, ' _Apparition_ '."

He still had so many questions about it.

"Both were very nice when I met them," said Carlisle thoughtfully. "Harry's list of injuries was concerning but them potentially being magic-related and therefore having no normal explanation would explain why he couldn't fill out his medical history very well."

That was something Edward hadn't considered before. He'd been so caught up in the fact that Harry wasn't human, or at least not a normal human, that he'd forgotten about that! Harry's medical history had been very empty. He'd explained that his school was essentially bombed by an extremist cult and that all the records, because electronics weren't looked highly upon, were gone. But that didn't mean he didn't remember _how_ he received his injuries.

And he had a very old gramophone that he was perfectly sure couldn't be broken by much of anything. He was only just learning how to use a cell phone after moving to America. And one time Edward had heard him call out to Merlin as an exclamation. Instead of God or some sort of variation on that, he'd said Merlin.

There was a whole mystery behind Harry Potter, and Edwards wanted to unravel it bit by bit.

"I like him," Alice said cheerfully. "And Bella is going to be my best friend so no one is going to ruin this for Edward and I."

And that was that.

* * *

"Hey, Bella, I need you to begin wearing this."

Harry held up a necklace he'd woven. All over it were charmed opal beads he'd personally enchanted. They had been integrated into the overlapping pieces of twine he'd been working with. The chances of it falling apart naturally were very slim.

"It's beautiful," she said, fingering the beads that no doubt had to look familiar to her. "What's it for?"

"Anyone so much as comes at you with the intent to do harm will find themselves repelled by a force-field of magic that will also scramble their minds a bit to confuse them. With any luck, most beings will end up going elsewhere and forget about you."

He'd been looking into it ever since he'd confirmed the existence of vampires in Forks. While he doubted any of the Cullens would pose a threat to either Bella or himself, he was aware that when vampires gathered in large numbers, it drew the attention of _other_ vampires. And not all vampires were ' _vegetarians_ ' nor did all of them respect such a way of existing.

As such, there were currently a few vampires dipping in and out of the Olympic peninsula who did not live there. There had already been seven murders that had been written off as animal attacks. Personally, he thought these wanderers were trying to draw out the Cullens by baiting them and seeing what they'd do in response, and this was the only method they could think of.

It was stupid though. Seven vampires were capable of coexisting in close quarters for decades. That showed powerful bonds and loyalty to one another. One of them could read minds, and he had a feeling one of the others had an extra ability as well. Nomads baiting an established Coven that possessed extra abilities to defend itself, was a stupid move.

Bella fastened his gift around her neck. "You have one too," she noted, touching his own beads which were tied around his wrist as a bracelet.

He nodded. "I'm a wizard and that means some extraordinary things on my part. Some I'm not even willing to acknowledge personally. But if I can't see my target, it becomes harder to fight them. So I'm doing my best to minimize any chances for an enemy to get in close quarters. Since you attract trouble like a magnet, I figured this was the best way I can keep you safe until I learn how to make better wards that can move with you instead of needing to be stationary."

"What are wards?"

"Think of a magical keystone. Instead of holding up an arch, it's buried into the ground somewhere on your property. A dome of magic proceeds to surround the property all the way around only on the parts you have control of. Magic recognises ownership if it's truly yours, and duty if you're just in charge of it. When someone comes near the wards, they let me know the status of the individual, such as if they're human or not, or a threat or not. And in doing so, I can enact further measures of protection such as dissolving someone on the spot or electrocuting them.

"I tied it to Charlie since he's the homeowner and his entire being has seeped into that building from living there for so long. In general though, I can strengthen and weaken the wards if necessary. So long as you call that place home, and you have to feel it deep inside, not just claim it aloud, magic will also grant you protection. It's a tricky bit of work but it's worth it."

Bella sighed and sent him a fond smile. "Thanks for the… you know, protection. You don't have to do any of this, you know?"

"I know. But I want to," he grinned. "Now, I wanted to ask if you'd be so kind as to drive me to Subway. I found out Forks has a Subway and I've never been to Subway."

"They _do_?" she asked. "I don't remembering seeing it anywhere."

"Yeah, it's past Tillicum Park if you keep following the 101 North. I was looking for a pizza shop, which there is one in fact, but then Subway came up in the search as well and that's more interesting to me."

He wanted to sample their food to see if it was a place that he should go to on the regular.

"I'll get my wallet."

"No, I'll pay. It'll be the least I can do as you're driving. But don't worry, once I know the area and have been there at least once, I will be able to go on my own without bothering you."

"It's no bother at all, Harry."

* * *

"Is this going to be a habit from now on?" Harry asked the next morning when Edward appeared as promised.

The vampire smiled charmingly, as he often did when trying to get his way, and nodded. "And you are riding to school with us today. Too many people thought we abandoned you to walking in the rain yesterday and it made me very uncomfortable as a hit to my personal code of honor."

He was pleased to see Harry's flush of shame. It still annoyed him that the human would ever think his friends would leave him out of something. Though he didn't know about Harry's past, so what had happened to make him this way? What experiences had he had with others to just assume he was being left behind without even a warning?

Before anyone else could say anything, Harry was sliding into the backseat without hesitation. When he registered them staring at him oddly he shrugged. "I figured Bella would sit up front with you. Since couples usually do that kind of thing."

"I wouldn't know," said Bella. "I've never dated anyone."

Edward hadn't either, but he'd seen enough couples and heard enough minds to know that what Harry said was the truth.

"I went on a date once," Harry said when they were all in the car. He was staring out the window almost forlornly. "It was terrible. I couldn't understand half of what Cho was talking about because she was constantly oscillating between blubbering about her feelings, to being jealous over stupid shite."

" _Why_ was she blubbering and jealous?" asked Edward, curious to know more about Harry's past. He'd grasp at literally anything if it meant getting to know the teen better.

"Cho Chang was dating Cedric Diggory. In my Fourth Year, this old tournament between international magical schools was reinstated. The other two schools sent delegations of potential champions all in their final school years, to compete. Cedric was our school's champion; he was a Seventh Year. I fancied him _and_ Cho and couldn't really decide who I was more jealous of in the long run and everyone seemed to know about it. Tom Riddle, the person I've mentioned to you both before, wanted to get me killed, so he had one of his followers enter me into the tournament under a school not involved, and the item therefore only had one name to pick for that school, and I ended up in the tourney as well despite not being of age.

"Cedric and I finished the final task together, but instead of being transported back to the school to celebrate, we were kidnapped and he was murdered for just being there. Cho and I didn't handle it well. As I was interested in her _and_ him, and I was the last person with him when he died, and was popular as well, Hermione said she was too emotionally distraught. Pulled in a million directions because she loved him but liked me, and hadn't gotten over him yet, but wanted to see if what she had with me could work, but felt guilty over insulting his memory so soon after his death. I didn't get what Hermione was talking about at the time, but I get it now."

It was a lot to take in at once, and it was tragic as well, but Edward could understand what kind of turmoil that would put someone in when piled together so soon after the tragedy. "Why was she jealous though?"

"I didn't really realize she intended for it to be a date when it was happening. So I was worried about a lot of things and kept getting distracted. Someone dared to tell me I was overreacting but as I was the one with madman in my mind trying to control me from a distance, while everything was falling to shite around me in more ways than one with a teacher physically torturing me at night and the government launching a smear campaign against me, I would say I had a right to my stress.

"And anyway, with the government, school, classes, the evil cult rising up again, big exams coming up, plus my friends having their own issues I didn't know how to help with, I kept not talking about _her_ and kept talking about Hermione and Ron. And I guess she assumed I fancied Hermione and proceeded to be very rude about everything. It was a mess."

So much had happened in Harry's life that Edward didn't even know where to start.

It was a shame that a 14/15 year old had to witness the murder of the boy he liked. What were the adults doing in Harry's life at that time? Why was it so easy to kidnap two different children from the same school when they were all apparently magical and could even move things without touching them? And surely such a big, international competition would warrant officials and the protection of law enforcement to an extent, right?

The Volvo pulled into Edward's preferred spot at the school, right beside Rosalie's red BMW. It gleamed even in the overcast weather that was the usual for Forks. Rosalie took very good care of her cars and spent 20% of her time in the garage improving them. She'd already given it spinning rims.

Harry whistled, taking note of it for the first time. "That's hot. I kind of want a car but I know I'll probably never drive it. I don't really like driving all that much and I don't think I'll be very good at it."

Bella snorted. "When you can instantly be in one place and then another, I can't imagine how driving would appeal."

"Brooms are better," he stated with surety. "Mine can go 120 mph in 6.5 seconds and slow to a stop in 3 seconds."

Edward's interest was caught immediately. He was a vampire and with his enhanced senses, he was used to moving quickly. Speed was a need. Going that fast was an appealing thought. Though how a human could handle going such a speed by themselves was baffling.

Harry smiled suggestively and waggled his brows. "Perhaps I'll take you for a ride on my Thunderbolt some time. It can fit two people."

"I'll hold you to it," he told the teen, enjoying this more playful side of Harry.

Outside, the students still stared as openly as they had the day before. Harry seemed unfazed by it, but Bella looked uncomfortable since she very obviously hated having attention. The walk to their class was silent.

"I'll see you _both_ at Lunch," he clarified so Harry didn't get any wrong ideas.

"I get it, can you please stop teasing me over it?" the boy groaned, heading inside without even a backwards glance.

Bella frowned a bit. "I don't think his mood improved in the least."

"Neither do I."

"Are we making him a third wheel? He suggested that he was the third wheel. Is you suggesting that you're… dating me really helping anyone in the long run?"

He had to think about it. He hadn't considered that. And Jessica's words from yesterday came to mind. ' _You like him, I know you do,_ ' she had said to Harry while they had left Bella and Edward in the hall. And he hadn't denied it in the least.

Again, Edward's mind wasn't necessarily on the dating part yet. He wanted to get to know the two humans who befuddled him daily with their strange answers and beliefs. He wanted to know what made them so different. Dating was a good excuse to use for why he would be around so much though.

But people typically only dated one person at a time. So while Edward had been professing equal interest in them, it was Bella that he'd had spent more time with, Bella's room he lingered outside of at night while she slept, and Bella he suggested to be dating him. So of course Harry would believe that Edward liked Bella way more, making what he'd told Jessica yesterday, make more sense.

"I guess the threesome joke might not be such a joke after all," he said carefully, gauging Bella's reaction.

At first she flushed at the implications in those words, and then took on a more calculating look. "Polyamory is a thing. It's 2020 and people should mind their own business anyway."

"Then I suppose I'm courting the both of you. Do let him know for me, will you? I need to plan on what to do."

She flushed again and then gave a jerky nod and rushed inside before anything more could be done.

Never before would Edward have thought that he would enter into a relationship with more than one person at the same time. But it felt kind of exhilarating when he thought about it!

_Oh, Edward, it's going to be great!_ gushed Alice from somewhere in the school. Her thoughts were louder than usual. _You're going to be so happy with them! And contrary to popular belief, this isn't very rare among vampires._

He hadn't known that. Interesting. He also didn't ignore how she wouldn't actually show him anything she'd Seen.

He could only imagine what the rest of the family would have to say once Edward's intentions were made totally clear. Rosalie would surely fly off the handle, but he had a feeling everyone else would just go along with it.

He was looking forward to Saturday and Sunday.

* * *

"Boring human getting to date a hot vampire is the start to so many young adult novels," Harry commented once they were all sat at Lunch. "Vampire Kisses anyone?"

Edward's face twisted in a very not-attractive expression. "I'm not the most fond of that series if truth be told."

"I thought it was cute for what it is," he said with a shrug. "A muggle dreamed it up without any personal experience with the things that go bump in the night, so I say they did decently. Besides, it's for those who are about fifteen or sixteen, not over a hundred."

Bella looked totally lost. "I think we read completely different things."

"Yeah, you're attached to the classics which bore me to death. But don't go thinking the Wixen World has better fiction, because it doesn't." He was reminded of the Daylight Saga which was written by a Mormon muggleborn who had some very interesting views on the supernatural. Completely old-fashioned and annoying in some places, but it wasn't super terrible if one excluded the desecration of an indigenous people's history and existence.

It could have honestly been worse, and the derivative piece of fiction based on it was indeed worse in _every_ aspect.

"I'll take your word for it."

Today he actually ate something, picking the pizza up off the tray Edward had gotten for them to split and eyeing it critically. "I've never had pizza before."

"If that's your first time having it, don't take it as an example of all pizza. There's no way school cafeteria pizza is ever going to be good," Bella told him, reaching for the bottle of lemonade. "We can get some real pizza in Seattle so you can try the good kind."

It ended up being really greasy underneath and the cheese was just kind of there. Like it was hot, but also completely solid so it just came off like a full slice of bumpy, hot cheese.

"I see what you mean."

He ended up setting it aside and grabbing the pack of apple slices that came with caramel. "Want some?" he asked Bella.

"You're going to think I'm odd for this, but I actually like to eat orange slices dipped in caramel and chocolate."

"That's not weird, that sounds great! Besides, you haven't had Pepper Imps or Every Flavour Beans. _Those_ are weird. In fact..." Harry's satchel was spelled to be larger on the inside. He'd learned that little trick from Hermione.

He liked keeping some sweets on him for any time he was nervous and wanted to chew on something that wasn't gum.

The typical, red and white striped box of Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans came out of the satchel that was far too thin to hold it, but muggles were usually unobservant so no one besides Bella and probably the vampires in the room noticed.

"Give it a go," he told her, placing the box on the table.

She eyed the box with obvious trepidation, the words ' _every flavour_ ' standing out all the more. "When it says ' _every flavour_ '..."

"They mean it. We developed the Every Flavour Bean Challenge and it spiked the sales. You have to eat the whole bean, meaning it has to be swallowed. You don't get a full point unless you swallow. It's harder than it seems."

Bella's right brow rose high while the left brow dipped low. She untwisted the top of the box and dug her hand inside. A greenish/yellow one and a robins' egg blue one were in her palm when she pulled her hand out.

"They're very pretty."

Green ended up being the bean of choice and she hummed. "Freshly mowed grass."

"Lucky. That could have been vomit."

" _No!_ "

"Yeah!" he laughed.

Edward was staring at the box of beans in unveiled horror. "You _like_ those?"

"Well it's every flavour, mate. So you'll have chocolate, cherry pie, treacle tart, s'mores, etc… But then you also have things like skunk spray, dirt, vomit, and cow manure."

The disgust that twisted Edward's face made both humans giggle.

"What is your best memory?" Edward asked a moment later, alternating between staring at them equally.

Harry looked to Bella first, awaiting her answer.

"Mom and I went on a cruise for my thirteenth birthday. It was to the Bahamas. The food was good, the sun was good, and I smuggled a conch shell I found in the sand when the waves knocked me over, back into the country. The sunburn I suffered from the week after was worth it, really."

Edward them looked to Harry, who shrugged. "Not sure what to say, really. There's a powerful spell that requires a very happy memory in order for you to power it properly. I used my first broom ride and me finding out the truth about myself, but they never worked. Yet I remember being very happy at those times. I ended up having to use my parents talking to me. Just talking. I don't remember what they were saying, but I remember their smiles and the sparkling of a mobile of dragons overhead. I'm not even sure it's real, but it's still the best I've got."

Bella patted his arm. "What about you, Edward?"

He was fiddling with the lid to Bella's lemonade, twisting it and turning in between his fingers without any real effort. "About a decade after my turning, I developed some resentment for Carlisle and him turning me and the life he wanted us to live. I felt that I knew better. So I left for a while and did some things I'm not proud of. One of which included murdering Esme's ex-husband, who was incredibly abusive."

Personally, Harry didn't see the issue with that. The arsehole deserved to die. Simple.

"When I came back, contrite and hopeless, Carlisle and Esme accepted me without hesitation. They didn't love me any less. They didn't make me jump through hoops to regain their respect or approval. They were genuinely happy to have me home, and as I knew the innermost thoughts of everyone and knew just what people really thought in the privacy of their own minds, I knew their sincerity was true."

Harry was not the only one tearing up from those words. A peek at Bella showed that she too was glassy-eyed. That kind of unconditional love was something very few would ever truly experience, and that was a sad fact.

"Carlisle sounds like a very pure soul," Harry said quietly.

"He is. It's an honour to share his thoughts."

"That is the sweetest shite I've heard in a very long time. Sensitivity is an attractive trait in a man."

He was certain that if vampires could blush, Edward would be doing it, and that was a good feeling.

* * *

Gym with Harry was both better and worse, in Bella's opinion. On one hand she always had a friend at her side, willing to partner up with her and take on the brunt of the work because she was just terrible at sports. On the other hand, he was constantly exposed to one of her biggest faults and it was embarrassing for someone so talented to see her mess up so much.

Harry's opinion mattered very much and she didn't know when or how it happened, but it did. It was a pressing concern of hers and she didn't know if this was _her_ thing or a teenager thing. Bella had always been abnormal as a teenager, but average as a human being. She was born thirty-five and aged more and more each year basically, meaning she was nearing retirement already and as the kids would say, she was boooooo-ring.

And it wasn't as if Harry thought there was something wrong with her. He didn't mock her numerous flaws or anything. It was all in her head, and she knew that. But that didn't stop it from bothering her constantly. That's what living with anxiety was like.

"Are you okay?" he asked while they were walking back to the locker rooms.

"I wish I could be like all the girls back in Arizona. Sporty and fun and full of life and actually _look_ the part of a girl from Arizona and not be so… me."

Rarely did Bella indulge in self-loathing but when she did, it got intense. She could make a sport of it even.

"What's wrong with being you? You're great."

He looked genuinely confused and she placed a hand on his shoulder. It wasn't something easily explained. Anxiety rarely was. She didn't know how to tell him about it, but she appreciated his support anyway. At the same time, she was mortified that he'd taken note of her problems at all.

The ride home was filled with classical music in Edward's car. He seemed to pick up on mood and didn't try to get in his own version of Twenty Questions out of Bella. Harry sat in the front seat this time to give him and Edward more bonding time in what limited space and time they had.

She remembered how Edward had smiled at Harry and how Harry had seemed mystified by the attention.

"Do you both want to sleep in tomorrow or have you planned out when you're getting up?" Edward asked once he pulled up outside Charlie's house.

"We planned to leave at eight," Harry told him. "Is that okay for you?"

"I'll be here at seven-thirty then, if that's fine with you. The Volvo is better on gas and we'll get there faster since I drive incredibly fast and will know if a cop is around"

They nodded and got out.

"See you tomorrow. Do try to get some sleep."

"And you try to curb your anticipation to see Bella again," Harry said, a strange inflection in his tone that made Edward go wide-eyed a bit.

As the Volvo drove away, Bella shifted her bag onto her shoulder. "I think I'm just now coming to terms with the fact that Edward said he wants to court both of us at the same time."

"Eh, polygamous relationships are nothing new among wix. We even have weddings and bondings for such couples."

For a moment, she envisioned herself in the standard white ballgown of a wedding dress, and on either side of her were Edward and Harry, dressed in fine, black suits and looking far too good for her heart to handle.

She was shocked by just how much the image appealed since she'd never been one for marriage. As in how could a piece of paper really make someone's relationship more special?

The divorce rate in America was high as hell. Obviously marriage didn't make life any better.

Bella was dating a vampire... who was dating her wizard friend. Did this mean she was dating Harry too? She cast a look his way to find him staring at her evenly, expression pleasant and inviting like usual.

Yes, she decided. It meant she too was dating Harry.

* * *

The moment Edward was out of the Volvo, he was inside the house and seated at the piano. His mind had been replaying a certain sound over and over for a while now. It came around whenever he was near Harry. Like there was this current coming from the young man, that twisted and turned around over and over and became more dim the further away Harry was.

As for the melody… it was something he'd picked up from Bella while she slept. Her breathing pattern and the fact that she mumbled in her sleep had given him the idea. Sometimes she hummed and last night her voice went through a whole scale.

His fingers danced over the keys, the sounds coming together. The ostinato was Harry, sure and confident in his place. The melody was Bella, erratic and uncertain. And yet they both fit together so well. If he had an orchestra on hand, he could easily place where each section would come in and what contributions they would make to the music.

It took little time for everyone to realize that he was playing a new piece.

Esme's thoughts drifted from upstairs, a wistful, relieved tone to them. _Edward's composing again._

She was downstairs and seated on the sofa near the piano a second later, smiling contentedly. The calm she radiated - that Jasper then decided to amplify - put him more at ease as he fiddled with the melody and where to take it. And maybe, someday soon, he could play it for the two humans who made his immortal life interesting again.

* * *

**~.O.~**

* * *

**A/N: Another is done!**

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

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**Author's Note:**

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